A large black-figure dinos (vessel for mixing wine and water) in the Villa Giulia does not seem impressive at first glance. The exterior is covered in black glaze with a simple decorative border around the rim. The vase though is one of just 14 signed by the Attic potter Exekias and dates to 540-530 BC. The signature reads: Exekias m’epoisen (Exekias made me). The figurative decoration runs along the inner rim with representations of 50-oared battleships. To borrow a Homeric formulaic phrase, when the dinos was filled for the symposium, the ships would have literally sailed on the ‘wine-dark sea’. romacittàdellaceramica #romeceramiccity #terracotta #ceramics #atticblack-figurepottery #exekias #winedarksea #slipdecoration @museonazionaleetruscodivillagiulia
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