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.
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic, is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, although there are specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BCE. Stylistically it can be distinguished from the preceding orientalizing period and the subsequent red-figure pottery style.
Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting.
Sophilos was an Attic potter and vase painter in the black-figure style. Sophilos is the oldest Attic vase painter so far to be known by his true name. Fragments of two wine basins (dinoi) in Athens are signed by him, indicating that he both potted and painted them. In total, 37 vessels are ascribed to him, mostly amphorae, dinoi, kraters, as well as three pinakes. Apart from his work for the domestic market, he was also one of the masters of major significance in the process of supplanting the dominance of Corinthian vase painting in the markets of Etruria, and Southern Italy, the most important export area for Greek vases. His works were exported as far as the Black Sea region, Syria and Egypt (Naukratis).
Kleitias was an ancient Athenian vase painter of the black-figure style who flourished c. 570–560 BCE. Kleitias' most celebrated work today is the François Vase, which bears over two hundred figures in its six friezes. Painted inscriptions on four pots and one ceramic stand name Kleitias as their painter and Ergotimos as their potter, showing the craftsmen's close collaboration. A variety of other fragments have been attributed to him on a stylistic basis.
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 Nessos Painter, also known as Netos or Nettos Painter, was a pioneer of Attic black-figure vase painting. He is considered to be the first Athenian to adopt the Corinthian style who went on to develop his own style and introduced innovations. The Nessos Painter is often known to be one of the original painters of black-figure. He only worked in this style, which is shown on his name vase in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Most of the known Nessos Painter ceramics were found in funerary settings such as cemeteries and mortuaries.
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.
Eucharides Painter is the common nickname of an ancient Greek artist who decorated but did not sign Attic vases. Neither his real name, nor the dates of his birth and death are known. Presumably this artist was a pupil of the Nikoxenos Painter.
The Athena Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter, active about 490 to 460 BC. His speciality were white-ground lekythoi painted in the black-figure style.
The Cerameicus Painter was one of the first Attic black-figure vase painters. He was active around 600 BC.
The KX Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter. He was active between 585 and 570 BC. Besides the KY Painter, the KX Painter was the main representative of the Comast Group, which succeeded the Gorgon Painter. His conventional name was allocated by John Beazley. He is considered the better and chronologically somewhat earlier representative of the group. He was the first painter in Athens to occasionally depict komasts on his vases, a motif adopted from Corinthian vase painting. He mainly painted skyphoi, lekanes, kothones and Komast cups. In contrast to later representatives of the group, he still mostly painted animals, in a more careful and powerful style than the Gorgon Painter. Some mythological scenes by him are also known. Especially famous are his small-fornat mythical scenes placed within animal friezes. The KX Painter can be considered the first Attic painter to achieve a quality at par with that reached in Corinth, then the dominant centre of Greek vase painting. Imitations of his works are known from Boeotia.
The Painter of the Dresden Lekanis is the common name for a vase painter of the Attic black-figure style, active around 580–570 BC. He emigrated to Boeotia and is in fact identical with the Boeotian Horse-bird Painter.
The Polos Painter was a vase painter of the Attic black-figure style. His works date to c. 575 to 565 BC.
The Castellani Painter was an Attic vase painter of the black-figure style active in the second quarter of the sixth century BC.
The term Class of Cabinet des Médailles 218, or Class of Cab. Méd. 218 or Class of C.M. 218 describes both a group of Attic black-figure vase painters, and a type of vase they produced. They belong to the final third of the sixth century BC.
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 Nikoxenos Painter was an Attic vase painter who worked in both the black-figure and red-figure styles. He was active in the end of the sixth and the beginning of the fifth centuries BC. His real name is not known.
The Gela Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter. His real name is unknown. His long career started around the turn of the 6th and 5th centuries BC. A majority of his works, consisting mainly of lekythoi were exported to West Greece. His work was strongly influenced by the newly developed red-figure style. His style is often careless, but his images are original. Especially his mythological and genre scenes are notable. Often, his compositions on smaller vases mirror those normally used on larger, more expensive, ones. On his shoulder ornaments, he replaced the conventional buds with leaves.
The Beldam Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter, active from around 470 to before 450 BC.