The Kleophrades Painter is the name given to the anonymous red-figure Athenian vase painter, who was active from approximately
510 – 470 BCE and whose work, considered amongst the finest of the red figure style, is identified by its stylistic traits.
Incised (or incision) refers to lines cut into the surface of a vessel using a sharp tool. It is primarily employed to create
details on human and animal figures in the black-figure technique (see Black-figure), but can also be used to make inscriptions.
Incisions are applied when the vase has reached its leather-hard stage prior to being fired, although sometimes lines were
re-incised afterward.
The Painter of the Birth of Athena is an Athenian red-figure painter active in the first half of the 5th c. BCE. The name
derives from a pelike found at Vulci (London, British Museum E410; BAPD 205560) showing the Birth of Athena. Shapes are the
pelike and the stamnos. Subjects include Dionysos and followers, gods and goddesses, and funerary scenes. Other findspots
are Cerveteri and the Athenian Agora.
The Boot Painter is an Athenian red figure painter active ca. 470-460 BCE. The name derives from several cups depicting naked
women putting on or holding boots. The main shape is the cup, but also the oinochoe. Subjects include men, women, boys, athletes,
satyrs, Theseus, and a pyrrhic dancer. Findspots are Etruria (Vulci, Tarquinia, Chiusi), sites in southern Italy, and Ampurias
(Spain).
The Gales Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter active ca. 520-500 BCE. The name derives from the signature as potter
(“epoiesen”) on several vessels. Shapes are the lekythos and cup. Scenes include the symposion, revelers (“komasts”), a maenad,
and a religious procession. Findspots are Gela and Vulci.
The Dish Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter active ca. 470-460 BCE. The name derives from the preference for decorating
stemmed dishes. Subjects are youths with lyres, a dancing girl, and a maenad. Findspots are Nola and Santa Maria di Capua.
The bell-krater is an innovation belonging to the red-figure technique. The body rises from a low disk-foot or sometimes a
modified disk-foot into the hint of a stem before expanding into the shape of an inverted bell with a mildly flaring mouth
with a torus lip. It has sturdy, horizontal, cylindrical handles that are located high up on the body opposite one another
and are slightly upturned.
The Painter of Acropolis 606 is an Athenian black-figure painter active ca. 570-560 BCE. The name derives from a dinos found
on the Athenian Acropolis (Athens, National Museum Acr. 606 [15116]; BAPD 300754) that displays warriors and battle. Shapes
include the column krater, neck amphora, amphora, dinos (lebes), and hydria. Findspots are in Athens and Attica, as well as
Odessa (Black Sea), Sicily, and Cyprus.
Geometric denotes Greek vases and other arts produced ca. 900-700 BCE. It thus falls between the so-called “Dark Ages” (ca.
1100-900 BCE), a time of limited production in figure-decorated vases, and the Orientalizing stylistic period (ca. 700-600
BCE). The Geometric is usually divided into the following phases: Protogeometric (ca. 1050/1000-900 BCE); Early (ca. 900-850
BCE); Middle (ca. 850-750 BCE); and Late (ca. 750-700 BCE). The term Geometric derives from a discernible development in the
techniques and appearance of pottery, sculpture, and architecture. Chief stylistic trends in vase-painting include the use
of horror vacui (“fear of empty space”), Greek key patterns and other geometric motifs, compass-drawn concentric circles and
semi-circles, and limited representation of figural forms. It applies to the decorated vases of Athens and Attica, and of
other regions of ancient Greece such as Crete, Euboea, Boeotia, Corinth and the Argolid, and East Greece. The main vase-painting
technique in Athens and Attica is silhouette, and in the Late Geometric silhouette is sometimes combined with cross-hatching
and outline. Major Athenian painters include the Dipylon Master and the Hirschfeld Painter, both of whom specialized in decorating
large vessels associated with funerary rites.
The Painter of London B76 is an Athenian black-figure painter active ca. 580-550 BCE. The name derives from hydria found at
Camiros, Rhodes (London, British Museum B76; BAPD 300790) showing Hector (inscribed) next to a frontal chariot. Other shapes
include the neck amphora, dinos (lebes), loutrophoros, belly amphora, and column krater. Subjects are Theseus and the Minotaur,
Trojan War, and the Kalydonian Boar Hunt. Findspots include Athens (Agora, Acropolis), Eleusis, Cyrene, Taranto, and Vulci.
The Cerameicus Painter is an Athenian black-figure painter active ca. 600-570 BCE. The name derives from vases found in the
Athenian Kerameikos. Shapes include the lekanis, oinochoe, skyphos, and loutrophoros. The decoration focuses on animals with
the occasional human. Findspots include Athens, Attica, Samos, Naukratis, and Cumae (Italy).
The Painter of Athens 533 is an Athenian black-figure painter active ca. 575-555 BCE. The name derives from a cup found in
Athens (Athens, National Museum 533; BAPD 300611) showing males and animals. Shapes include the cup, lekythos, and Siana cup.
The painter may be the first to decorate the inside tondo of the cup. Subjects are dancers, warriors, and animals. Findspots
include Turkey (Miletus, Pitane, Gordion), Sicily, Marseilles, and Rhitsona.
Paseas (sometimes known as the Cerberus Painter) is an Athenian red-figure vase-painter active ca. 525-510 BCE, who also painted
in black-figure (see Paseas [Black-figure]) and usually painted on white-ground. The name derives from a black-figure pinax
(plaque) dedicated on the Athenian Acropolis (Athens, Akr. National Museum 1.2583; BAPD 301992), inscribed: “one of the paintings
of Paseas.” It belongs to a series of plaques dedicated to Athena that features the goddess. The painter’s red-figure work
consists mostly of cups and plates. Other red-figure shapes are the lekythos and alabastron. Findspots include sites in Etruria
and the Athenian Acropolis.
‘Situla’ comes from the Latin word meaning 'bucket.' It is a deep bowl for wine and was mainly made in South Italy. The swung
handles suggest a derivation from metal.
The Foundry Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter active ca. 480-470 BCE. The name derives from a cup (Berlin, Antikensammlung
F2294; BAPD 204340) showing sculptors on the exterior and Hephaistos and Thetis on the interior (Arming of Achilles). The
cup is the main shape, and other shapes are the oinochoe and skyphos. Subjects include the symposion, athletes, horsemen,
centaurs, Theseus, and the Trojan War. Some findspots are Etruria (Cerveteri, Vulci, Tarquinia, Orvieto, Todi), Adria, sites
in southern Italy, and Tanagra.
The Cage Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter active ca. 490-480 BCE. The name derives from a cup from Orvieto (London,
British Museum 1901.5-14.1; BAPD 203642) showing a boy holding a bird-cage. Shapes are the cup and pyxis. Subjects include
athletes, the symposion, men, and youths. Findspots are Orvieto, Tarquinia, and Chiusi.
The Argos Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter active ca. 480-470 BCE. The name derives from a stamnos from Cerveteri
(Vienna, Kunsthistoriches Museum 3729; BAPD 202608) showing the Death of Argos. Shapes are the pelike and stamnos. Subjects
include Dionysos and followers, Triptolemos and Demeter, centaurs, athletes and musicians, and a man leading a camel. Other
findspots are Veii and Falerii.
The loutrophoros, meaning ‘carrying to the bath,’ was a vessel used for ritual cleaning. It is a tall version of the neck-amphora
with two very long vertical handles. A slightly different version imitates the hydria with two horizontal and one vertical
handle (‘loutrophoros-hydria’).
The Dutuit Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter active ca. 500-480 BCE. The name denotes the former owner of an oinochoe
from Nola (Paris, Petit Palais 315; BAPD 203153) showing Artemis with a fawn. Shapes are the amphora, oinochoe, lekythos,
and hydria. Scenes include Dionysos and followers, winged goddesses, Herakles, and Hephaistos and Thetis (Arms of Achilles).
Findspots are Vulci, Cerveteri, Nola, Sicily, and Olbia.
The Bonn Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter active ca. 505-480 BCE. The name derives from a cup (Bonn, Akademisches
Kunstmuseum 1644; BAPD 203666) showing centaurs on the exterior and an archer on the interior. The primary shape is the cup.
Subjects include the symposion, warriors, Theseus, hunting, and satyrs. Findspots are Vulci, Taranto, Spina, Orvieto, and
possibly Chiusi.
The amphora Type B has a flaring lip with straight or slightly concave sides, an echinus foot, and cylindrical handles. It
is one of the oldest shapes, produced from the late 7th c. BCE until about 425 BCE.
The Painter of the Louvre F6 is an Athenian black-figure painter active in the mid-6th c. BCE and is classified as a “companion”
to Lydos. The name derives from a hydria (Pairs, Louvre F6; BAPD 300899) showing Dionysos with maenads and satyrs on the shoulder
and a duel on the body. Shapes include the column krater, belly amphora (Type B), and the shouldered hydria. Subjects are
gods, warriors, Herakles, centaurs, Theseus, and athletes. Known findspots are in Greece and Italy, as well as Berezan and
Cyrene.
The term ‘stamnos’ is conventionally (and wrongly) used to designate a storing and mixing bowl with two small horizontal handles
attached to a compact, bulbous body, a short neck and a lid.
The Syriskos Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter connected to the Syriskos Group, active ca. 470’s BCE and earlier,
who uses white-ground. The name (meaning “Little Syrian”) derives from the signature as potter (“epoiesen”) on an astragalos
(knucklebone-shaped vase) (Rome, Villa Giulia 866; BAPD 202749), showing Nike, Eros, and a lion. Shapes are the pelike, rhyton
in the shape of a ram’s head, kantharos in the shape of a woman’s head, amphora, krater, alabastron, psykter, hydria, and
lekythos. Subjects include Dionysos and followers, the symposion, warriors, athletes, and Theseus and the Minotaur. Some findspots
are the Athenian Acropolis, Tanagra, sites in Etruria (Vulci, Tarquinia, Cerveteri, Orvieto), southern Italy, Sicily, Naukratis,
and Ampurias (Spain).
Pseudo Panathenaic amphorae are unofficial imitations of Panathenaic amphorae that lack prize inscriptions. They are visually
almost identical to their official counterparts.
Taking its name from the Greek 'hydor,' meaning 'water,' the hydria is a water-pot for the fountain. It has a capacious oval
body, two horizontal handles, and one vertical handle. This type of vase was manufactured in bronze, in coarseware, and in
fineware. See also kalpis.
The Type C pyxis is a broad, squat version of the Type A and has deeply concave sides resting on a low ring foot. The flanged
lid is convex, often with a metal ring handle. The container is usually twice as wide as it is high. It was made as early
as the mid 5th c. and was popular from the last quarter of the 5th through the first half of the 4th c. BCE.
The Pasiades Painter is an Athenian red-figure painter active ca. 520-500 BCE, associated with the Group of the Paidikos Alabastra.
The name derives from the potter (“epoiesen”) who signs as Pasiades on several examples. The name Pasiades inscribed as painter
(“egrapsen”) on a white lekythos from the Athenian Agora (Athens, Agora Museum AP 422; BAPD 200898) is not considered to be
the same artist as the Pasiades Painter. Subjects include Penthesilea, women, and maenads. Known findspots are Attica, Delphi,
and Marion (Cyprus).
Relief is a decorative technique applied in both Athenian black-figure (see Black-figure) and red-figure (see Red-figure)
vase-painting in which clay is added to the surface of the vase. Relief can be used to show details of hair in the form of
black glaze dots, or for jewelry, objects, and animal or human figures. For larger figures, the relief decoration is produced
by pressing soft clay into a mold, similar to plastic vases (see Plastic), and then affixed to the still-moist surface using
a slip. Examples of relief decoration also include applique heads on handle junctions and full figural scenes. Sometimes the
relief may be accentuated with added colors such as white and gold (see Added Color).
The Altenburg Class denotes a group of Athenian black-figure painters active late 6th to early 5th c. BCE who mostly decorate
the oinochoe. The name derives from an oinochoe from Vulci (Altenburg, Staatliches Lindenau-Museum 203A; BAPD 303211) showing
a seated winged female. Attributed to the class are the Painter of Munich 1760 and the Leagros Group. The Altenburg Painter,
a 6th c. BCE East Greek vase-painter of Fikellura style vessels, is not connected to this class. Scenes are Athena, Dionysos
and followers, and the Struggle for the Delphic Tripod. Aside from Vulci, findspots include other Etruscan sites.
The Oakeshott Painter is an Athenian black-figure painter of Little Master cups active in the second quarter of the 6th c.
BCE. The name derives from a cup, formerly in the Oakeshott collection (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum 1972.162; BAPD 350750), showing
animals. Shapes are band-cups and some lip-cups. One lip-cup (Boston, Museum of Fine Arts (69.1052; BAPD 210) features figure
decoration on the interior. Subjects are Dionysian, and findspots include Samos, Etruria, and Cyrene.
An amphora where the neck joins the body at sharp angles instead of a smooth curve. The neck and the body are offset, meaning
that the curve and shape changes radically where the neck meets the shoulder.
The Eucharides Painter is an Athenian black-figure painter active ca. 500-470 BCE, who also painted in red-figure (see Eucharides
Painter [Red-figure]). The name derives from the inscription “Eucharides kalos” (“Eucharides is beautiful”) on a red-figure
stamnos (Copenhagen, National Museum 124 BAPD 202230) showing youths, women, and Eros. Shapes are the Panathenaic amphora,
hydria, pelike, and neck amphora. Subjects include music, horse races, warriors, Ajax and Achilles, and daily life. Findspots
are Athens (Acropolis, Agora, Kerameikos), Vulci, Nola, Cumae, Samos, Corinth, Kerch, Locris (Greece), and Al Mina.
The Yale University Art Gallery is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art
in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University.
Archaic denotes Greek vases and other arts produced from ca. 600-480 BCE. It thus falls between the Orientalizing (ca. 700-600
BCE) and Classical (ca. 480-323 BCE) stylistic periods. The Archaic is sometimes divided into Early and Late (or “Ripe”) phases
according to region, and its date range is sometimes pushed back to ca. 700 BCE based on certain archaeological factors. The
term applies to the decorated vases of Athens, Corinth, Laconia, Boeotia, and other regions of ancient Greece. The main vase-painting
technique in Athens is black-figure (invented in Corinth late 7th c. BCE), followed by red-figure (invented in Athens ca.
530-520 BCE). Major Athenian vase-painters from the time include Lydos, Amasis Painter, Exekias, Euphronios, Brygos Painter,
and Berlin Painter.
