The Gorgon Painter is considered as a very productive successor of the Nessos Painter.[2] Additionally, in accordance with other Geometric style artists, he arranged his subjects in symmetric patterns. Characteristic of his paintings are flat representations of humans or gods and animals painted in sections around the pottery. Rather than filling blank spaces with geometric patterns, the Gorgon Painter uses the Animal style; depicting real and fantastical animals in friezes around the vases which is considered to be a Corinthian tradition.[3]
The better recorded artist Sophilos is said to be influenced by the Gorgon Painter,[2] continuing work in the black-figure style and zoomorphic decoration.
Style
Corinthian
The Gorgon Painter is considered to use the Corinthian style, or Animal style, in his pottery. The name comes from its place of popularity, Corinth. Not to be mistaken with the Corinthian order, within Corinthian there are different subsets including what is called Animal style, which is what the Gorgon painter is partially known for; the Animal style is marked by no geometric shapes, but rather larger depictions of animals and plants.[3] Unlike many early depictions of animals, the Animal style does not have the animals facing the same direction, rather they interact with each other and the other elements of the piece.[3]
Historians have noted that the Gorgon Painter uses both old myths and depictions alongside newer versions, which is how they have identified him as a singular artist.[1]
The Gorgon Painter’s name vase depicts the Greek myth of Perseus and the Gorgons. This particular myth was quite common and is seen on many pieces of pottery by many different artists, it is considered the most popular myth represented on pottery at this time.[1] This particular depiction shows Perseus fleeing the Gorgons after fulfilling his duty to kill Medusa. Although this dinos is the most well-known work attributed to the Gorgon Painter, it is not the only work. The Gorgon Painter often used Gorgons in his works as shown in the image of the plate, as well as animals rather than established geometric shapes.
References/Sources
1 2 3 Shapiro, H.A. (1990). "Old and New Heroes: Narrative, Composition, and Subject in Attic Black-Figure". Classical Antiquity. 9: 114–148. doi:10.2307/25010923. JSTOR25010923.
1 2 Beazley, J.D. (1994). "Hesperia". Groups of Early Attic Black-Figure.
1 2 3 Rasmussen, Tom (1991). Looking at Greek Vases. Cambridge University. pp.72, 74.
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).
The Kleophon Painter is the name given to an anonymous Athenian vase painter in the red-figure style who flourished in the mid-to-late 5th century BC. He is thus named because one of the works attributed to him bears an inscription in praise of a youth named "Kleophon". He appears to have been originally from the workshop of Polygnotos, and in turn to have taught the so-called Dinos Painter. Three vases suggest a collaboration with the Achilles Painter, while a number of black-figure works have also been attributed to him by some scholars.
The Kleophrades Painter is the name given to the anonymous red-figure Athenian vase painter, who was active from approximately 510–470 BC and whose work, considered amongst the finest of the red-figure style, is identified by its stylistic traits.
Lydos was an Attic vase painter in the black-figure style. Active between about 560 and 540 BC, he was the main representative of the '’’Lydos Group’’’. His signature, ό Λυδός, ho Lydos ", inscribed on two vases, is informative regarding the cultural background of the artist. Either he immigrated to Athens from the Lydian empire of King Kroisos, or he was born in Athens as the son of Lydian parents. In any case, he learned his trade in Athens.
Geometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterized largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, c. 900–700 BC. Its center was in Athens, and from there the style spread among the trading cities of the Aegean. The Greek Dark Ages lasted from c. 1100 to 750 BC and include two periods, the Protogeometric period and the Geometric period, in reference to the characteristic pottery style. The vases had various uses or purposes within Greek society, including, but not limited to, funerary vases and symposium vases.
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.
The Pan Painter was an ancient Greek vase-painter of the Attic red-figure style, probably active c. 480 to 450 BC. John Beazley attributed over 150 vases to his hand in 1912:
Cunning composition; rapid motion; quick deft draughtsmanship; strong and peculiar stylisation; a deliberate archaism, retaining old forms, but refining, refreshing, and galvanizing them; nothing noble or majestic, but grace, humour, vivacity, originality, and dramatic force: these are the qualities which mark the Boston krater, and which characterize the anonymous artist who, for the sake of convenience, may be called the 'master of the Boston Pan-vase', or, more briefly, 'the Pan-master'.
Apulian vase painting was a regional style of South Italian vase painting from ancient Apulia in Magna Graecia. It comprises geometric pottery and red-figure pottery.
The Painter of Berlin A 34 was a vase painter during the pioneering period of Attic black-figure pottery. His real name is unknown, his conventional name derived from his name vase in the Antikensammlung Berlin. He is the first individual vase painter of the style in Athens recognised by scholarship. His works are dated to circa 630 BC. Two of his vases were discovered in Aegina. Since the 19th century, those pieces were on display in Berlin, but they disappeared or were destroyed during the Second World War.
The Comast Group was a group of Attic vase painters in the black-figure style. The works of its members are dated to between 585 and 570/560 BC. The artists of the Komast Group are seen as the successors of the Gorgon Painter. Its most important representatives were the KX Painter and the slightly later KY Painter. They painted vases shapes that had been newly introduced to Athens or that had not previously been painted. Especially commonly painted by them were '’kothon’’ and lekanis. From Corinth, then still the centre of Greek vase painting, they adopted the Komast cup and the skyphos (known as kotyle. The KY Painter introduced the column krater. Also popular at the time was the kantharos. The group adopted the Corinthian habit of depicting komasts, after which the group is named. It provided the group’s most commonly painted motif. The komast scenes permit Attic artists for the first time to reach the artistic levels of middle-ranking Corinthian vases. While the older KX Painter still mostly painted animals and only the occasional komast scene, the komos became a standard motif for the KY painter and further inferior successors. It is not clear to what extent the painters of the group really cooperated. It is possible that they all worked in the same workshop. The group influenced later Attic vase painters, including the Heidelberg Painter. Works by the Komast Group were not only found in Attica, but appear to have been exported widely. Vases and fragments have been found at many sites, including Naukratis, Rhodes, Central Italy, Taras, and even Corinth.
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 C Painter was one of the most important Attic black-figure vase painters. His works date to circa 575–550 BC. His conventional name was allocated by the archaeologist John Beazley. The C stands for "Corinthianising", a reference to the strong influence of Corinthian vase painting on the artist. He was successor to the Comast Group and used the relatively old-fashioned range of vessel shapes preferred by that group, including lekanis, tripod kothon and skyphos. In contrast, he also painted quite innovative lekythoi with pronounced shoulders, although the more conservative Deinaeira type was still in use by some workshops at his time. The C Painter was the first Attic vase painter to paint cups without an offset lip, the Merrythought cup.
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Euboean vase painting was a regional style of ancient Greek vase painting, prevalent on the island of Euboea.
Chalcidian pottery is an important style of Western Greek black-figure vase painting.
The Dinos of the Gorgon Painter is an important example of ancient Greek pottery, produced at Athens around 580 BC. It entered the Louvre's collection in 1861, with the purchase of Giampietro Campana's collection.
The Boxing Siana Cup, is an Archaic vase that is part of the University Museums at the University of Mississippi. The vase is from the region of Attica and is dated to be around 560 BC – 550 BC. The design style of the vase is Attic black-figure and features a scene on the front and back of the cup and one on the interior. The artist of the vase is considered to be the Sandal Painter.
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