About Loewenkannen: La Loewenkanne del Museo Archeologico di Verona

A so-called Löwenkanne is kept among the bronze vessels in the Archaeological Museum at the Roman Theatre of Verona; the jug is part of a collection assembled in the nineteenth century by Carlo Alessandri. The provenance of the vessel is unknown, but part of the Collection was collected in Southern Italy and Sicily. This type of decorative jug, whose handles are adorned with plastic lions, is produced during the 6th century BC by Greek and Etruscan workshops with wide distribution range. Numerous stylistic and decorative contacts between the various specimens led to the formulation of various typological groups, with chronology and distribution evidences that, however, were based on vessels coming mostly from Collections, in good conservation status, but without findplaces and contexts. Starting from the analysis of the Löwenkanne of the Museum of Verona, this caratteristico type of jugs is take into account with particular reference to the types present in the contexts of the Italian peninsula, where Löwenkannen are attested in settlements and in cemeteries, and where they are included among the high quality artefacts. The aim of the following paper consists in the archaeological evidence based on archaeological context data; I will try to highlight the role and function of these particular types of jugs, to be read in a circulation phenomenon of fine vessels characterizing the Archaic period.