Nuove considerazioni sulla iscrizione della matrice di antefissa silenica da Buccino (Salerno)

A wide mould of a Silenus’s head with an inscription on the back was unearthed in 1970 during the exploration of the villa rustica of Vittimose, in the territory of ancient Volcei. After the preliminary report of the discovery, it was quickly published in two articles in which, in addition to recognizing the valuable character of the product, it was dated either to the fifth or to the second century. B.C.; either the original destination of the mould did not meet a unanimous agreement among the scholars, being variously included in the category of the antefixes or in that of the ornamental masks. Some technical details observed during a recent autopsy conducted at Musei Provinciali in Salerno, provided the opportunity for reconsideration the artefact and to propose a new reading of the inscription placed on the back. Interesting implications emerge from the latter on the role of the Oscan craft under the influence of the Greek iconographic tradition in Lucania between the Late-Classical and the Early Hellenistic Periods.