Underworld Demons on an Early Fifth Century BCE Etruscan Black-Figure Stamnos from Vulci, now in Berlin

An Etruscan black-figure stamnos from Vulci, now in Berlin, has been overlooked since its brief description by A. Furtwängler in 1902. After establishing the vase’s affiliation with the workshop of the Group of Munich 883/Pittore dell’Ancile, which has been dated to the first quarter of the fifth century BCE and was active at Vulci, this study analyzes the iconography of the vase’s figural imagery. One side depicts a winged youth holding a fillet while the other contains a representation of a wingless figure holding a double axe and standing in front of a column. The article concludes by suggesting that these figures are early Etruscan representations of underworld demons. In addition, the axe holder may even be one of the earliest extant images of the death demon Charu(n) in Etruscan art, holding the forerunner of the hammer, his more well-known attribute.