A different example of the eye-cup shape. Chalkidian black-figure eye-cup, circa 530 BC
The bilingual eye-cup by the Andokides painter in the Museo Archeologico Regionale, Palermo (not illustrated), is a prime example of the transition from black-figure vase painting to the red-figure style in the late 6th century to early 5th century BC that commonly resulted in "bilingual" vases, using both styles. The Andokides painter created the red-figure style of pottery as we know it today during his working years from 530–515 BC.[1] Starting around 530 BC the Andokides painter produced red-figure amphorae and a bilingual kylix.[1] Fewer than 20 vases survive by the Andokides painter but they span 30-40 years of his career, allowing historians to trace the development of his painting styles. One of the earliest mentions of the Andokides painter was on a black-figure hydria by Timagoras around 550 BC, when the Andokides painter must have been an apprentice.[1]
A bilingual amphora by the Andokides Painter;Munich, Antikensammlungen 2301
Red-figure technique
The red-figure technique was likely perfected, if not created, by the Andokides painter. This revolutionary technique made the compositions stand out more so they were easier to see from a distance. It essentially used the same materials as the black-figure, but reversed the way the image figures were created. Instead of using incision and added light colors to define figures, figures were left with light glaze then defined with black lines while the background was filled in black. This contrast of light on dark made the composition stand out as opposed to the dark, shadowy figures on a black-figure composition. This created a need, however, for even more decorations along the top, bottom, and sides of the main register in order to delineate the black of the vase from the black background of the figural scene.[1]
Red figure side of Munich, Antikensammlungen 2301
The introduction of the red-figure technique can be related back to the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi. The style of the Andokides painter is remarkably similar to the sculptural decorations on the treasury. This similarity can be traced through the particular details in armory and human anatomy, the use of drapery lines, and also through the subject of the struggle for the Delphic tripod. According to Dietrich von Bothmer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, only the Andokides painter has been known to emphasize calf muscles with three curved lines as is also seen on the frieze of the Siphnian Treasury. This relation shows that the Andokides painter was inspired by the sculptural decorations on the treasury and incorporated aspects of that into his own works.[1]
Bilingual eye cup
The only bilingual kylix eye cup by the Andokides painter dates to ca. 530 BC. The figures on this kylix are of warriors around the handles, archers between the eyes on the red-figure register, and a trumpeter between the eyes on the black-figure register; most of the tondo is lost but what fragments remain are just of ray patterns.[2] The composition is simple enough, but the unique aspect of this kylix comes in the specifics dividing the painting techniques. Scholars generally attribute the black-figure compositions of the Andokides painter's vases to the Lysippides Painter.[1] On this bilingual eye cup the demarcation between red-figure and black-figure is so specific that both of the black-figure warriors who are in supplication on the ground have red-figure shields that have fallen out of their hands.[3]
Elite soldiers
The hoplite warriors depicted in the bilingual kylix were Greek warriors who fought in closed ranks, or a phalanx. Hoplites were the most common type of soldier in the 7th through 4th centuries BC. These soldiers carried long thrusting spears (doru) in their right hands and shields in their left with a short sword (xiphos) on the hip.[4] The shields would protect the soldier's own body and the right side of the warrior to his left. This set-up of soldiers allowed all but the ones on the ends of rows to be fully protected during battle. The phalanx formation didn't allow for much movement but the Greeks were the best warriors around regardless of any mobility issues.[5]
In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix is the most common type of wine-drinking cup. It has a broad, relatively shallow, body raised on a stem from a foot and usually two horizontal handles disposed symmetrically. The main alternative wine-cup shape was the kantharos, with a narrower and deeper cup and high vertical handles.
Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it, it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society. The shards of pots discarded or buried in the 1st millennium BC are still the best guide available to understand the customary life and mind of the ancient Greeks. There were several vessels produced locally for everyday and kitchen use, yet finer pottery from regions such as Attica was imported by other civilizations throughout the Mediterranean, such as the Etruscans in Italy. There were a multitude of specific regional varieties, such as the South Italian ancient Greek pottery.
Exekias was an ancient Greek vase painter and potter who was active in Athens between roughly 545 BC and 530 BC. Exekias worked mainly in the black-figure technique, which involved the painting of scenes using a clay slip that fired to black, with details created through incision. Exekias is regarded by art historians as an artistic visionary whose masterful use of incision and psychologically sensitive compositions mark him as one of the greatest of all Attic vase painters. The Andokides painter and the Lysippides Painter are thought to have been students of Exekias.
Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting.
Oltos was a Late Archaic Greek vase painter, active in Athens from 525 BC to 500 BC. About 150 works by him are known. Two pieces, a cup in Berlin and a cup in Tarquinia, are signed by him as painter.
The Niobid Painter was an ancient Athenian vase painter in the red-figure style who was active from approximately 470 to 450 BC. He is named after a calyx krater which shows the god Apollo and his sister Artemis killing the children of Niobe, who were collectively called the Niobids. The krater is known as the Niobid Krater and is now housed at the Louvre in Paris. In his other work he shows a preference for Amazonomachy scenes and three-quarter-view faces. His student Polygnotos continued his style of vase painting.
Epiktetos was an Attic vase painter in the early red-figure style. Besides Oltos, he was the most important painter of the Pioneer Group. He was active between 520 BC and 490 BC. His name translates as "newly acquired", which is most probably a reference to his slave status.
The Antimenes Painter was an Attic vase painter of the black-figure style, active between circa 530 and 510 BC.
Psiax was an Attic vase painter of the transitional period between the black-figure and red-figure styles. His works date to circa 525 to 505 BC and comprise about 60 surviving vases, two of which bear his signature. Initially he was allocated the name "Menon Painter" by John Beazley. Only later was it realised that the artist was identical with the painters signing as "Psiax".
The Pioneer Group is a term used by scholars for a number of vase painters working in potters' quarter of Kerameikos in ancient Athens around the beginning of the 5th century BC, around the time of the emergence of red-figure vase painting, which soon displaced the previously dominant black-figure style.
White-ground technique is a style of white ancient Greek pottery and the painting in which figures appear on a white background. It developed in the region of Attica, dated to about 500 BC. It was especially associated with vases made for ritual and funerary use, if only because the painted surface was more fragile than in the other main techniques of black-figure and red-figure vase painting. Nevertheless, a wide range of subjects are depicted.
The Amasis Painter was an ancient Greek vase painter who worked in the black-figure technique. He owes his name to the signature of the potter Amasis, who signed twelve works painted by the same hand. At the time of the exhibition, "The Amasis Painter and His World" (1985), 132 vases had been attributed to this artist.
Andokides was an ancient Athenian vase painter, active from approximately 530 to 515 B.C. His work is unsigned and his true name unknown. He was identified as a unique artistic personality through stylistic traits found in common among several paintings. This corpus was then attributed by John D. Beazley to the Andokides Painter, a name derived from the potter Andokides, whose signature appears on several of the vases bearing the painter's work. He is often credited with being the originator of the red-figure vase painting technique. To be sure, he is certainly one of the earliest painters to work in the style. In total, fourteen amphorae and two cups are attributed to his hand. Six of the amphorae are "bilingual", meaning they display both red-figure and black-figure scenes.
The pottery of ancient Greece has a long history and the form of Greek vase shapes has had a continuous evolution from Minoan pottery down to the Hellenistic period. As Gisela Richter puts it, the forms of these vases find their "happiest expression" in the 5th and 6th centuries BC, yet it has been possible to date vases thanks to the variation in a form’s shape over time, a fact particularly useful when dating unpainted or plain black-gloss ware.
The Belly Amphora in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen at Munich is one of the most famous works by the Andokides Painter. The vase measures 53.5 cm high and 22.5 cm in diameter. It dates to between 520 and 510 BC and was discovered at Vulci. It was acquired by Martin von Wagner, an agent of Ludwig I of Bavaria.
Eye-cup is the term describing a specific cup type in ancient Greek pottery, distinguished by pairs of eyes painted on the external surface.
The Leagros Group was a group of Attic black-figure vase painters active during the last two decades of the 6th century BC. The name given to the group by modern scholars is a conventional one, derived from a series of name vases.
Bilingual vase painting is a special form of ancient Greek vase painting. The term, derived from linguistics, is essentially a metaphorical one; it describes vases that are painted both in the black-figure and in the red-figure techniques. It also describes the transitional period when black-figure was being gradually replaced in dominance by red-figure, basically the last quarter of the 6th and the very beginning of the 5th century BC. Their appearance may be due to the initial uncertainty of the market for the new red-figure style, although that style subsequently became dominant rather fast.
The Lysippides Painter was an Attic vase painter in the black-figure style. He was active around 530 to 510 BC. His conventional name comes from a kalos inscription on a vase in the British Museum attributed to him; his real name is not known.
The hoplites were soldiers from Ancient Greece who were usually free citizens. They had a very uniform and distinct appearance; specifically they were armed with a spear (dory) in their right hand and a heavy round shield in their left.
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