The Group of Rhodes 12264 is a Group of Attic black-figure vase painters, active in Athens around the middle of the 6th century BC. They belong to the so-called Little masters. The Group is named after the Droop cup inv. 12264 in the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes. They painted exclusively cups, mostly Droop cups with friezes in the handle zone.
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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 in the 2nd century BCE. Stylistically it can be distinguished from the preceding orientalizing period and the subsequent red-figure pottery style.
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.
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 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 KY Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter. He was active between 585 and 570 BC.
Burgon Group is the conventional name given to a group of Attic black-figure vase painters active in the middle third of the sixth century BC.
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.
Little-Master cups are a type of Attic black-figure cups, produced around the middle and third quarter of the sixth century BC. Their name is based on their fine small-format decoration. Little-Master cups are later in origin than Siana cups, but both types were produced over a considerable period of time. The Little Masters painted only the small upper frieze above the carination of the cup, at times also the lip or handle areas. It is probably that only few of the painters of Siana cups also painted Little-Master cups. One of the first artists to introduce the Little-Master cup in Athens was Kleitias. The change in decoration went along with a lengthening of the cup foot. The dedicated painters of Little-Master cups rarely painted larger formas, whereas painters primarily specialised in large vases are known to also have painted Little-Master cups. Stylistic comparison between larger and smaller formats of the period remains difficult.
The Little masters were a group of potters and vase painters who produced vases of the Attic black-figure style featuring well-done figures in miniature. They were active in Athens approximately 560–530 BC. They mainly produced Little-master cups: lip cups, band cups, and droop cups, but were not entirely limited to such shapes. The group includes:
Phrynos was a Greek potter, active in Athens, circa 560–545 BC. He is one of the Little masters. Three signed lip cups by him are known:
Sokles was an ancient Greek potter, active in the middle of the 6th century BC, in Athens. The following signed Little-master cups or fragments thereof are known, all of them painted by the Sokles Painter:
A Siana cup is a type of Attic cup decorated in the black-figure technique. They are named after one of their find locations, the Necropolis of the ancient city of Siana on Rhodes. During the second quarter of the 6th century BC, Siana cups were the predominant cup shape in Athens. The shape remained popular later and was still being produced in large quantities during the era of the Little-Master cups.
The Phrynos Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter, active in Athens between c. 560 and 545 BC. He was allocated the conventional name "Phrynos Painter" after the potter Phrynos, as he had painted three cups signed by the latter:
The BMN Painter was an Attic vase painter in the black-figure style, active during the third quarter of the 6th century BC.
The Rycroft Painter was an Attic late black-figure vase painter, active in the final decade of the sixth century BC. His real name is not known.
The Hypobibazon Class was a group of Attic black-figure vase painters and a type of vase. They belong to the period around 510 BC.
The term Three Line Group describes a group of Attic black-figure vase painters, as well as a type of vase. They belong to the last quarter of the sixth century BC.
The term Perizoma Group describes a group of Attic black-figure vase painters and a type of vase. They were active approximately 520–510 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.