Etruscan Studies Journal of the Etruscan Foundation Volume 10 Article 15 2007 Dionysiac Imagery in Archaic Etruria Dimitris Paleothodoros University of Thessaly Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/etruscan_studies Recommended Citation Paleothodoros, Dimitris (2007) "Dionysiac Imagery in Archaic Etruria," Etruscan Studies: Vol. 10 , Article 15. Available at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/etruscan_studies/vol10/iss1/15 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Etruscan Studies by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Dionysiac Imagery in Archaic Etruria by Dimitris Paleothodoros he emergence of Etruscan Dionysiac iconography was made possibLe by the adop - tion and imitation of prototypes found on imported Attic vases 1. The first TDionysiac images produced by Etruscan craftsmen date to 550 BC and are found on bLacK-figured vases by the Paris Painter, and the painters of the Ivy-Leaf and the La ToLfa Groups. Between the mid 6th and mid 5th centuries BC, Etruscan artists decorate aLmost 170 bLacK-figured and added-red vases with Dionysiac images, 13% of the totaL pro - duction of figured vases. 2 This group of images, suppLemented by other pieces of evidence, such as mirror engravings and bronze statuettes, forms the basis of the present study, which is the preLiminary report of a thorough investigation of Dionysus in archaic Etruria. In the recent past, schoLars have deveLoped the concept of “Dionysism without Dionysus,” to account for the paradox of the scarcity of Dionysus’ images in archaic Etruria, in contrast to the great popuLarity of images of his foLLowers, i.e.