The Nolan amphora is a variant style of the amphora jar, a common artifact of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

pottery. Nolan amphorae are characterized by a neck that is longer and narrower than in traditional neck amphorae, along with ribbed handles or straps that join the piece at the base of the neck. They are named for the archaeological site at

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian wor ...

, Italy, where an abundance of these vessels have been unearthed.

Historical origins

The distinct shape and style of the Nolan amphora is thought to have emerged from two styles of older Attic

black-figure pottery Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic ( grc, , }), is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, although there are ...

: the black-figure

panel amphora Panel may refer to: Arts and media Visual arts *Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image *Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art, ...

and the red-bodied amphora. It has been theorized that the former is the closest predecessor of the Nolan shape, given that it has both the elongated neck of the red-bodied amphora and the smaller size associated with Nolan amphorae. Nolan vessels, however, do not always have decorated

palmette The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art o ...

s characteristic of black-figure panel amphora. Both black-figure and

red-figure Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 520 BCE and remained in use until the late 3rd century BCE. It replaced the previously dominant style of black-figure va ...

neck amphorae were first created in Athens, with roots in Protoattic vases. Nolan amphorae feature almost exclusively red-figure ornamentation. The style would have been disseminated throughout Greece, Italy, and later the Roman Empire via trade with Greek, particularly Athenian, artisans. Early examples of such vases were known to have been created for trade in Etruscan markets.

Gallery

File:Achilles Painter - Nolan Amphora with Woman and Mantled Youth - Walters 4854 - Side A.jpg File:Providence_Painter_Eos.jpg File:Attisch-rotfigurige_Amphora._Seite_2,_Hetjens-Museum_Düsseldorf_(DerHexer).JPG File:Amazone_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_2342_full.jpg File:Neck-amphora_Antilochus_Louvre_G213.jpg File:Misfired_vase,_red-figured,_not_fully_reduced_in_firing.jpg

References

{{Greek amphorae Ancient Greek pot shapes Ancient Roman pottery Amphorae