Please tell us about your research project.
My PhD research project entitled "The workshop of Nikosthenes: Production, organisation and influence of an Attic workshop in the second half of the 6th century B.C." aims reconsidering the role of Nikosthenes among his contemporaries in order to understand the functioning and the place in trade of one of the major workshops in Athens during the late Archaic period. My research work consists mainly in combining morphological and stylistic studies and the study of the ornemental decoration of the vases attributed to the Nikosthenes workshop in order to bring out characteristic elements from this production, of varied forms, revealing the workshop's own practices. The aim of this study is to try to understand the internal organisation of this workshop, but also the systems of influence with other Athenian workshops contemporary to Nikosthenes'. A final part of my research also consists in looking at the commercial strategies of this workshop. Nikosthenes produced and signed vases of Etruscan shape and the majority of his productios was discovered in Etruria. By recontextualising these discoveries and the few clues linked to the exchanges on the vases themselves, I would like to understand the link between our Athenian workshop and Etruria and mainly the cities of Cerveteri and Vulci.
Could you please tell us a bit more about your scholarship/exchange programme?
I’m in Oxford for the month of June thanks to the monthly scholarship offered by the MFO.
First impressions of Oxford/the University?
Being able to spend a month in Oxford is a great opportunity. The research centre for classical studies is a wonderful place and the libraries have a wide range of documents and books. The architecture and the flair of the city are amazing.