La culla di Hermes

Raffaella Bonaudo's La culla di Hermes offers a comprehensive iconographical and iconological re-examination of Caeretan hydriai, a coherent yet highly distinctive group of Ionic-style black-figure vessels produced in Archaic Etruria (c. 530–510 BCE). Moving beyond traditional stylistic and attributional paradigms, the work treats the entire corpus—spanning both mythological episodes and scenes from everyday life—as a unified visual language governed by specific composition rules and structural codes. Through a semiotic and structuralist framework, the author dissects the syntax of these visual programs, analyzing how primary narratives, secondary registers, and ornamental motifs interact to create complex layers of meaning. Ultimately, the study highlights how the Caeretan elite purposefully selected and reinterpreted Greek mythic cycles, heroic models, and domestic themes. By situating these vessels within their funerary and symposiastic contexts in Cerveteri, the monograph demonstrates the dynamic cultural dialogue between Greek artisans and Etruscan patronage during a pivotal historical period.