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Abstract

Agnes Bencze
Symposia Tarentina
The Artistic Sources of the First Tarentine Banqueter Terracottas

The archaic terracotta figurine Budapest 77.104.A, belonging to the well-known class of Tarentine votives representing a reclining banqueter, is taken here as a starting point for a discussion concerning the artistic sources that determined the style and iconography of this class at its beginning. A number of comparisons with a wide range of works of art of the 6th century BC help to reconsider the assertion, generally accepted up to now, according to which the theme and the scheme of Tarentine banqueters would have been adapted directly from Eastern Greek art. A thorough stylistic analysis of early Tarentine banqueter types shows, in fact, that Eastern Greek models played a role in the formation of local types only as a part of a more complex whole, in which the impact of Laconian models must have been equally important. In fact, it seems more likely that the ultimate origin of the Tarentine banqueter scheme can be traced back to the art of its metropolis, Sparta. On the other hand, in the second half of the 6th century, an interest for East Greek models can be observed also in Laconian art itself, with strikingly similar results as it is shown by some coroplastic documents in Taras.

Article in volume 85, 2010, pages 25-41

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