The Truth: Two Nineteenth Century Hydria Replicas

The Truth: Two Nineteenth Century Hydria Replicas PUECH Pierre-François et PUECH Bernard The hydria, that has a wide body and rounded shoulder, was among the shapes most favored by the redfigure Athenian vase painter Kleophrades who was active from approximately 510 – 470 BCE. Hydria Greek pottery, with a wide belly and three handles, was used to transport water or for funeral. Of interest are copies made in Italy of the shape and ornamentation by Kleophrades of the Vivenzio hydria (Naples 2422, Beazley ARV², 189/74), not necessarily identical but manufactured in Naples before 1860.The best way to understand these hydriai is by comparison.

Figure n°1: Left: red figure hydria, 19th century (reproduction of vase from ca. 470 B.C.). Glazed earthenware 11 1/4 x 13 5/8 in. (34.6 x 28.6 cm) CAM 1940.40 Courtesy © Cranbrook Art Museum Bloomfield Hills; Right: Delruy ancient replica of the Kleophrades painter Vivenzio Hydria © P.-F./B. Puech.

The figures of the Cranbrook hydria are from a cup close to the Clinic Painter now in the Hermitage drawn by Costanzo Angelini in 1798 and the shape with ornamentation are based on the Vivenzio hydria in Naples. Delruy hydria is not simply a replica, it is the result of long aesthetic pottery made of fine clay labor, and its finish is refined. Art tends to return to our ancestors, intent can be difficult to discern but what we know is that the author has laid out the ethic of the essential. The basic motivation of this display appears to be a human need for staging, the true and the false enrich each other. The authenticity of a work of art is related, since the nineteenth century, to the needs of the art market. The reason a copy for the connoisseur is not to be strictly identical in appearance, but to be same in what the artwork is to defend the relic. Determining such a distinction is also, as with so many things, dependent on intent. In the case of painted pottery by Kleophrades with the sack of Troy, the object is the story of the choice made for a burial in Campania. We have long been taught, and have believed, that the basic use of art is to provide oases. References: PUECH Bernard (2016) Ilioupersis - Le sac de Troie par Kléophradès ; www.academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/21583173/Ilioupersis_-_Le_sac_de_Troie_par_Kléophradès

PUECH Pierre-François and PUECH Fernand (2016) The Kleophrades Sack of Troy on Vivenzio funerary hydria and fragmented skeletons from Veyrier; www.academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/22470068/The_Kleophrades_Sack_of_Troy_on_Vivenzio_funerary_hydria_and_fragmented_skeletons_from_Veyrier