M. Martha[2375] explains the invariable colouring of Etruscan terracottas on the supposition that the Etruscans did not profess to make figures in this material, but looked down on it as a common substance, to be concealed wherever possible. However this may be, the polychromy was not only a necessary artifice, but an admirable means of imparting life and realism to the figures. In the archaic period there is much less variety, yellow, red, brown, and black being the only colours employed as a rule.[2376] The dark red pigment usually applied for flesh-colour on the sarcophagi may suggest the _minium_ with which the statue of Jupiter Capitolinus was smeared. In later work the tints are lighter and much more varied, as we have seen, and this is especially noticeable on the figures from the Luni pediments, in which rose, yellow, green, and blue are employed with the same delicate _nuances_ that we see in the Tanagra figures. § 3. SOUTHERN ITALY In dealing with the indigenous non-Hellenic people of Southern Italy and their pottery, we are almost more at a disadvantage than in regard to the Etruscans. The peoples are almost unknown to us, and are vaguely characterised as “Iapygian,” “Messapian,” “Oscan,” and so on; but this does not really carry us much further. Moreover, this part of Italy has never been scientifically or thoroughly excavated, like Etruria, and even where finds have been made they are small and poor; nothing of very remote date appears to have come to light, and very few early Greek importations. Hence there has been until quite recently no attempt made at a scientific study of the pottery, or even to distinguish local from imported wares; in Heydemann’s catalogue of the Naples vases it is practically ignored. Recently, however, Herr Max Mayer, and Signor Patroni, whose laudable investigations of the Graeco-Italian vases have already received attention (Chapter XI.), have turned their attention to the study of the less promising indigenous fabrics.[2377]