Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 100. (Budapest, 2004)

SZILÁGYI, JÁNOS GYÖRGY: "La gigantesque horreur de l'ombre Herculéenne" Apulian Red-Figure Vases Decorated in Superposed Colours

"LA GIGANTESQUE HORREUR DE L'OMBRE HERCULÉENNE"

1 APULIAN RED-FIGURE VASES DECORATED IN SUPERPOSED COLOURS Of course it is about Beazley. His Etruscan Vase-Painting perhaps received less attention and praise than it deserved in academic circles, and even less in circles not strictly academic. This is understandable if we measure the book to the monumentality of his works on Attic vase-painting, even more so if we take into account the contemptuous indifference manifested towards things Etruscan outside Italy at the time of the publication - "which I do not share" he states clearly in the preface of the book. Likewise, it might have contributed to the less than enthusiastic reception that primarily the last seven chapters of the book cover areas that had rarely or not at all been brought up earlier, the elaboration of which - if we go by the title - could hardly be anticipated. It is not only about plain vases, but also about the pioneering methods he applied in specifying some groups of South Italian pottery. And all this at the time of World War II, when not only autopsy', but all means of communication were heavily limited - the negative effects of which he was all too aware of, and indeed did not omit to mention it in the preface: "the groups small, many isolated pieces, the relation of one group to another vague, the location of the fabrics uncertain, the dates not precisely determined." It took a good deal of time before the researchers turned towards these areas, especially within the organisation of Italian archaeology, where it was due to the changes ensuing from the mid-sixties onwards. Here too, it did not need take long for those interested to start struggling for his heritage, which was quite overwhelming in itself - the fight regarding Attic vasepainting began practically at the hour of Beazley's death. It would be pointless to deny that this struggle brought many significant positive results, irrespective of its psychological motivation, though it would be equally pointless to enthusiastically greet all the amendments to Beazley's theses spurred by the need to escape his shadow, without first considering what antecedents he could have used as a starting point on the one hand, and what exactly was stated on the other; moreover, what he could claim in 1946, at the time of the conclusion of his book.

2 1 José-Maria de Hérédia, Fuite de Centaures. 1 With regard to this, it will suffice to refer to a single fact: in the Preface, he gives special thanks to the person who procured the 'new Italian volumes' of CVA for him; prior to the long pause due to the War, the last Italian volumes were published in 1942 (CVA Tarquinia 2, CVA Genova-Pegli 1); the next one appeared after the publication of his book, in 1950 (CVA Napoli 1).