GreekGreekPOTTERYPOTTERY

c. 750 – 80 BCEc. 750 – 80 BCE

Geometric Period• 900-700 BCE• Characterized by decoration of ceramic vessels with linear motifs, such as spirals, diamonds, and cross-hatching.• Even the figures are stylized as simple shapes• Kraters were large ceramic vessels designed to be grave-markers for those who had been cremated. • This krater shows a funerary ritual of a man on a funeral bier about to be cremated, with onlookers raising their arms to their heads in grief

Funerary vase from Dipylon CemeteryDipylon Cemetery, Argos (Greece). 42”

c. 750 BCE. Terra cotta.

Orientalizing Period• Around 650 BCE, artists began moving away from the linear designs in favor of more open compositions around large motifs that included real and imaginary animals, abstract plant forms, and human figures.• The source of these motifs can be traced to the arts of the Near East, Asia Minor, and Egypt, but instead of simply copying the motifs, the Greeks modified them and invented an entirely new style.• The repeated flower motifs are called rosettes.• During the Orientalizing period, the Greeks also copied fictitious animals, such as sphinx, lamassus, and in this case, sirens (half woman, half bird).• Corinth (and to some degree, Athens) became centers for pottery-making, and exported their wares throughout the Mediterranean.

Corinthian Black-figure Amphora

with Animal Friezes

Rhodes, Greecec. 600 BCE. 1’ 2”

Different Color Figures•3 Main types of Greek painted vase decoration: black figure, red figure, and white ground (the below explains black and red figure; we will discuss white ground later). • The ceramicist/potter would first “throw” the pot on a potter’s wheel, and attach the handles.• Then, the designs were painted on (either by the same artist, or a different artist who specialized in painting) using slip, a refined, liquefied clay.• Slip is not glaze (it has no glass in it), nor is it pigment (color). It is almost exactly the same as the rest of the clay, and even looks the same color before firing.• Before firing, the artist would etch in any fine, detailed lines through the painted slip layer, exposing the underneath clay layer.

Different Color Figures• The different colors are brought out by a three-stage firing process.• The first stage is oxidation, where the clay is brought to very high temperatures (around 2000⁰F), but the kiln has a vent hole in it to allow air/oxygen in. At this stage, the clay appears reddish-brown.• The second stage is the reduction, where the air vent is closed to reduce the amount of oxygen. Doing this causes the heat and combustion to draw oxygen out of the clay particles, causing a chemical reaction that turns the clay black. The temperature is raised even higher, causing the thin outer layer of slip to vitrify (turn glass-like).• The third stage is the re-oxidation, where oxygen is let back in. The porous, non-vitrified clay reabsorbs the oxygen and returns to its original reddish-brown, but the vitrified slip stays black.

Painted positive spaces (figures) with slip

Painted negative spaces (around figures) with slip

François Vase• Named after the excavator who unearthed it (in fragments) at an Etruscan tomb in Chiusi (central Italy). • Potter = Ergotimos, Painter = Kleitias• Bottom-most register depicts Orientalized sphinxes• The rest of the krater depicts many characters from Greek mythology, including centaurs, Lapiths, Theseus, Achilles and his father (Peleus)• Spaces between figures left undecorated• Each figure is labeled• Human figures in composite pose

François VaseAthenian black-figure

volute krater.Found in Chiusi, Italy

c. 570 BCE, 2’ 2”.

Exekias• Exekias was a famous potter and pottery painter. He did both on the work to the right, which was found in an Etruscan tomb.• Does not divide the space into registers; instead focuses on one larger scene.• This shows Achilles (left) and his comrade Ajax (right) playing dice between battles during the Trojan War. Both have spears ready to return to fighting at any time.• The arch of the figures’ backs echoes the curvature of the shoulders of the vessel. The negative space between the heads and spears of the figures also echoes the amphora’s general shape.

Ajax and Achilles Playing a Dice GameAthenian black-figure amphora by Exekias.Found in Vulci, Italyc. 540 BCE, 2’ high

Andokides Painter• The Andokides Painter was the anonymous person who painted the pottery made by the potter Andokides, and was the student of Exekias.• The Andokides Painter developed the technique of red-figure painting by reversing the areas where slip was applied.• The interior details and patterns of the red figures were painted on as slip with a fine brush, rather than being etched in with a stylus, allowing for greater flexibility and range of values.• In developing his red figure technique, the Andokides Painter did several vessels that were red figure on one side, and black figure on the other, called bilingual paintings.

Achilles and Ajax Playing a Dice Game

Athenian bilingul amphora by Andokides PainterFound in Orvieto, Italy

c. 520 BCE, 1’ 9”.

Euphronios• Depicts wrestling match between Herakles and the giant Antaios, who derived strength from the earth. To defeat Antaios, Herakles had to lift him into the air and strangle him. • The red-figure technique allowed Euphronios to experiment with diluting the slip to achieve the lighter hues in Antaios’ hair, creating a textural contrast between the giant’s unkempt hair and Herakle’s neatly trimmed coiffure.• Euphronios also broke away from the tradition of depicting figures in composite poses, choosing instead to draw the wrestling match as it would look in reality, with twisting bodies and limbs going in different directions.

Herakles Wrestling Antaios(detail of an Athenian red-figure calyx krater).

By Euphronios.Cerveteri, Italy

c. 510 BCE, 1’ 7”.

Euthymides• A rival of Euphronios was Euthymides, who also experimented with drawing the human form in from more challenging angles.• The amphora to the right depicts three revelers (appropriate for a wine storage container).• Each reveler is turning in some way, rather than being strictly in profile or frontal views. However, their turns look naturalistic, unlike the forced use of twisted perspective.• The figure in the center is turning with his back towards us. This previously would not have been done, because the backside was not considered to be the “important” side of the body.• Euthymides signed the vessel “Euthymides painted me, as never Euphronios [could do!]”

Three RevelersAthenian red-

figure amphoraBy Euthymides,

From Vulce, Italy.c. 510 BCE, 2’.

Achilles Painter• During the Classical period, artists developed the technique of white ground painting, where a background of fine white slip was painted upon the surface of the pottery, then different colored glazes were painted on top. • The white-ground technique was very delicate, and would not stand up to daily wear and tear. As such, it was most frequently used on lekythoi (plural for lekythos), a type of vessel used to hold perfumed oils that were often placed in graves as offerings to the deceased.• The scene depicted on this lekythos is appropriate for its funerary purpose – a young soldier, headed off to war, says goodbye to his wife for the last time.

Warrior Taking Leave of his Wife

(Athenian white-ground lekythos)

from Eretria, Greece. By Achilles Painterc. 440 BCE, 1’ 5”

Phiale Painter• This krater depicts Hermes giving the infant Dionysus, son of Zeus, to Papposilenos (“grandfather satyr”) to be raised, safe from the wrath of Hera. • Unlike Achilles Painter, Phaile painter only used the glazes that could withstand the heat of the kiln (and where thus more durable), and saved the bright white slip to be used only sparingly on the skin of the nymphs and hair of the satyr.

Hermes bringing the infant

Dionysos to Papposilenos

(Athenian white-ground calyx krater) from Vulci, Italy.

By Phiale Painterc. 440 CE. 1’ 2”