Why did Athenian pots appeal to the Etruscans?

Very large quantities of pottery painted in Athens in the sixth and fifth centuries BC found their way to Etruria. This paper compares the scenes painted on Athenian pots found in Etruria with the scenes on pots found in Athens itself and with the scenes on various classes of artefact produced in Etruria. It argues that, although the Etruscans were voracious consumers of Athenian pottery, their demand did not generally determine the iconography of the figure scenes, and that Athenian pottery provided the Etruscans with a lexicon of scenes from which they selected when producing for themselves artefacts for particular contexts of use.

Keywords:

• Etruscans
• Ancient Athens
• Greek Vase Painting
• Trade
• Taste