Although the local character of Etruscan black-figure vase painting was recognized as early as the 1830s, later scholarship was dominated by the Panionian paradigm. This view assumed that the style was initiated by migrants from East Greece before losing its “Greek” character and becoming “barbarized.” New studies of Etruscan black-figure have begun to revise this paradigm. In particular, it has been proven that the founder of the so-called Pontic workshop, called the Eyre Painter, owed nothing to East Greek art. In addition, certain groups of vases once thought to be products of Ionian painters who migrated in Etruria (the Campana dinoi and the Northampton Group) are now regarded as imports. Since these developments affect the very essence of the established paradigm, it is now time to reassess all available evidence. This paper deals not only with style, ornament, and vase-shapes, but also addresses questions of iconographic influence, especially in matters of ritual and divine iconography, and thus offers a more balanced view about the contribution of Anatolia to the development of Etruscan pictorial styles of the second half of the sixth century BCE.

Similarities in the imagery of Etruscan and Western Anatolian dress fashions, such as pointed shoes and Ionic chitons, indicate an obvious connection between the clothing systems of the two cultures. Indeed, Larissa Bonfante (2003) in her groundbreaking book Etruscan Dress classifies an “Ionian Phase” (550–475 BCE) in the development of the Etruscan clothing system. This chapter investigates the adaptation of Ionian dress items into the Etruscan dress repertoire through a comparative iconographic study of dress fashions in western Anatolia and Etruscan funerary art of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. After an overview of prevailing dress fashions in both cultures, it explores the specific case of shoes with upturned toes (Etruscan/Hittite shoes, as they are commonly known) to show the changing meanings and cultural connections the adopted dress items conveyed.