Da Creta a Taranto. Un pinax da Saturo e la circolazione mediterranea dell'immaginario dedalico

This paper analyzes a terracotta pinax found in 2011 during archaeological excavations in the sanctuary on the acropolis of Saturo (Taranto), datable within the third quarter of the 7th century B.C. and now on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto. The small relief, depicting a male and female figure traditionally identified with Theseus and Ariadne, was already known from an artefact of the same type published in 1928 by E. Langlotz, which had given rise to a flourishing market of fakes, still in activity today. The re-examination of the stylistic and iconographic models has allowed to fully frame the pinax in the handcrafted productions of the 7th century B.C., highlighting a direct contact with Crete. The beginning of serial production of this typology is due, however, to the initiative of the settlers of Taranto, who drew for their cultual needs )om the Daedalic imagerie that circulated in the globalised Mediterranean of the orientalising age.