On any ordinary day of November 3, 1844, in Tenuta Granducale di Dolciano, near Fonte Rotella (three kilometers from closed)? Maybe Alessandro Francois, the Grand Duke’s military commissioner, is determined to retrieve the artifacts that the ancient Tombaroli stole from the vicinity of two Etruscan mounds. It was clear from the several pieces that were discovered how important the vase—in this case, a penthouse with black figures from the sixth century BC—was.
Thus, a hundred workers were assigned to the exclusive task of excavating the rock bed, altering the surrounding terrain to such an extent that it was estimated that the amount of earth needed to be moved in order to locate the different pieces of the Francois vase was equivalent to the size of Rome’s Colosseum. Despite the fact that the parts were not entirely recovered, Vincenzo Monni’s restoration efforts allowed the vase to revert to its former grandeur.
However, there is another somewhat dubious tale that concerns our vase (in actuality, its exact designation would be crater, that is, Krateres, which means mixing). On September 9, 1900, a museum caretaker, maybe in the midst of a heated argument with a colleague or in a fit of pique, hurled the wooden stool he was sitting on against the Vase Francois’s glass case, shattering it into 638 pieces.
The repair was eventually completed in 1972, but a visitor’s piece was only returned to the finished work. This was the first time that more contemporary standards and techniques were used in the restoration of the Francois vase. Two holes that were probably cut in antiquity at the foot of the Andes to secure the vase someplace were accentuated by the restoration.
The artist Ergòtimos and the painter Kleitias created this amazing piece of art, which most likely belonged to an Etruscan prince. Their “signatures” are displayed in a band or register (the wedding of Peleo and Teti): Ergòtimos m ‘èpoiesen (Ergòtimos made me) and Kleitias ME”agraper (Kleitias painted me).
This stream penthouse has the biggest black figures in the world, measuring 66 cm in height and 57 cm in circumference. I can guarantee you a true fortune, but fortunately we have the chance to view it in all its splendor in the Archaeological Museum of Florence.
