A Caeretan hydria

Hydria

A hydria is a type of Greek pottery used for carrying water. The hydria has three handles. Two horizontal handles on either side of the body of the pot were used for lifting and carrying the pot. The third handle, a vertical one, located in the center of the other two handles, was used when...

is a type of ancient Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 painted vase, belonging to the black-figure style.

Caeretan hydriai are a particularly colourful type of Greek vase painting. Their geographic origin is disputed by scholars, but in recent years the view that they were produced by two potter-painters who had emigrated from East Greece to Caere

Caere

Caere is the Latin name given by the Romans to one of the larger cities of Southern Etruria, the modern Cerveteri, approximately 50-60 kilometres north-northwest of Rome. To the Etruscans it was known as Cisra and to the Greeks as Agylla...

 in Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...

 has gained ground. Based on their style, they were for the longest time considered as either Etruscan

Etruscan vase painting

Etruscan vase painting was produced from the 7th through the 4th centuries BC. It was strongly influenced by Greek vase painting. Besides being producers in their own right, the Etruscans were the main export market for Greek pottery outside Greece...

 or Corinthian products. However, added inscriptions in Ionic Greek support the hypothesis of immigration. The workshop only lasted for one generation. By now, about 40 vases of the style are known, all produced by the two masters and their assistants. None were discovered outside Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...

. The majority were excavated in Caere, after which site they were named by Carl Humann

Carl Humann

Carl Wilhelm Humann was a German engineer, architect and archaeologist...

 and Otto Puchstein. They are dated to between about 530 and 510/500 BC.

The hydria

Hydria

A hydria is a type of Greek pottery used for carrying water. The hydria has three handles. Two horizontal handles on either side of the body of the pot were used for lifting and carrying the pot. The third handle, a vertical one, located in the center of the other two handles, was used when...

i have a height of 40 to 45 cm. Attached to the body are off-set widely swaying necks; the body itself features broad shoulders. Low ring-bases shaped like upturned chalices are attached at the bottom. The technical quality of the vases is rather low. Many are warped or show signs of bad firing. Additionally, many have dints that must be derived from rough handling before firing. The painting of the body is separated in four zones: the shoulder, a figural and an ornamental zone on the belly, and a bottom area. Except the figural zone on the belly, all other areas bore ornamental decoration. Only a single piece with two figural zones on the belly is known.
The striking feature of the vases is their colourful decoration. In this regard they differ from all other styles of black-figure vase painting. The style resembles Ionian vase painting and multicoloured wooden panels found in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. Their figural decoration is on the belly. Men are depicted with red, black or white skin, women virtually always in white. Contours and interior detail were incised, as is common in black-figure vases. Areas covered in black shiny slip

Slip (ceramics)

A slip is a suspension in water of clay and/or other materials used in the production of ceramic ware. Deflocculant, such as sodium silicate, can be added to the slip to disperse the raw material particles...

  were often covered with an additional layer of white shiny slip, so that the underlying black would be visible in incised details. The front imagery is always dynamic, the back often heraldic in nature.

The ornamentation is a major constituent of the hydriai, it is not upstaged by the figural motifs. Stencild were used to create the ornaments; they are not incised. The feet, handle attachments and inside of the mouth are decorated with alternating red and black flames. Because of the two-layer slip, the flames are black-rimmed. The necks are decorated with maeanders, spiral crosses or polychrome budded tendrils, a single known piece features a bucranium

Bucranium

Bucranium, plural bucrania , is the word for the skull of an ox. It is also an architectural term used to describe a common form of carved decoration in Classical architecture, used to fill the metopes between the triglyphs of the frieze of Doric temples...

. The shoulders were painted with flame patterns or black ivy tendrils and berries. Black, white and red rays are placed above the foot. Under the handles, there are single palmette

Palmette

The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has an extremely long history, originating in Ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear...

s.

The study of Caeretan Hydriai was advanced especially by Jaap M. Hemelrijk. He also distinguished the two masters to whom the vases are ascribed, but his distinction of potters and painters of ornaments have not prevailed. He called the two artists the Busiris Painter and the Eagle Painter. The latter is considered the superior representative of the style. They were especially interested in mythological motifs

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, usually indicating an eastern influence. On the name vase

Name vase

In classical archaeology, a name vase is a specific "vase" whose painter's name is unknown but whose workshop style has been identified. The painter is conventionally named after the selected "name vase" that embodies his characteristic style, or for one of its distinctive painted subjects, or for...

 of the Busiris Painter, Herakles is trampling the Egyptian pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

 Busiris

Busiris

Busiris or Bousiris may mean several different things, including:-Places:*Busiris , a large ancient city of Egypt, capital of its nome*Busiris , an ancient city of Egypt, near the Egyptian Pyramids...

. Herakles generally occurs frequently, e.g. with Nessos, Acheloos

Achelous

In Greek mythology, Achelous was the patron deity of the "silver-swirling" Achelous River, which is the largest river of Greece, and thus the chief of all river deities, every river having its own river spirit. His name is pre-Greek, its meaning unknown...

, the Nemean Lion

Nemean Lion

The Nemean lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. It was eventually killed by Heracles. It could not be killed with mortal weapons because its golden fur was impervious to attack...

, Alkyoneus or Pholos

Pholus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Pholus was a wise centaur and friend of Heracles who lived in a cave on or near Mount Pelion.The differing accounts vary in details, but each story contains the following elements: Herakles visited his cave sometime before or after the completion of his fourth Labor, the capture...

. Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

 is depicted stealing cattle. There are also images of Odysseus

Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....

 and Polyphemus

Polyphemus

Polyphemus is the gigantic one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes. His name means "much spoken of" or "famous". Polyphemus plays a pivotal role in Homer's Odyssey.-In Homer's Odyssey:...

, Europa

Europa

-People and characters:* Europa , a Phoenician princess in Greek mythology, from whom the name of the continent Europe is taken* Europa of Macedon, the daughter of Philip II by his last wife, Cleopatra...

, Dionysos and the retrun of Hephaistos to Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...

. Besides, there are scenes from everyday life, e.g. palaistra

Palaistra

Palaistra can refer to:*a palaestra*a place in the Greek prefecture of Florina...

scenes, hunts, sacrifices and warriors. Some vases show rare motifs, e.g. Keto

Keto

Keto can refer to:* The Keto people, an ethnic group of the Siberian North.* Ceto or Keto, a sea goddess in Greek mythology.* Ketone or keto group, the functional group in the chemical compounds ketones....

 accompanied by a white seal. In once case, both painters collaborated on a single vase.

Apart from the hydriai, a single alabastron

Alabastron

An alabastron is a type of pottery used in the ancient world for holding oil, especially perfume or massage oils...

by the Eagle Painter is known. Stylistically closely related to the Caeretan hydriai are striped neck amphorae.