Archaic Pottery

Process for Black-figure vases Levigation: purifying clay by letting impurities sink to the bottom Wedging: kneading Pulled on the potter’s wheel Sections dried and joined with slip Decorated With slips containing pigments from metal (black glaze); purple-red; white Applied with brushes Fired in kilns In firing, the pots turned red and the painted parts black Three stages, to oxidize, vitrify the black slip, and reoxidize the rest of the pot

Archaic Vase Painting Centers: Corinth, Athens, Laconia, Chalchis, Boeotia, Aegean Islands Corinth early leader; later Athens Early Archaic painting influenced by the Corinthian style, itself Orientalizing

Archaic Ceramic Production

Archaic Potters and Painters Potters: signature followed by some form of the verb “made” ( Painters: signature followed by some form of the verb “painted” Sometimes these were the same person Other methods of identification developed by Sir John Davidson Beazley Through stylistic details Painters named by attribution or by nicknames After known potters with whom they worked (Amasis Painter) After the place the vase was found After the current location (Berlin painter) After an owner (Burgon Painter) After subjects (Niobid Painter) After stylistic details (Elbows Out Painter)

Pottery Shapes

Early Archaic Vases 600-575: Sopholis: earliest known Attic painter Animal friezes, Orientalizing Sopholis: earliest known Attic painter Signed 3 vases as painter, 1 as potter Sophilos megraphsen Dinos or Lebes (cauldron) Animals, florals, purples, whites Wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis

Attic black-figure Dinos and stand by Sophilos, c. 580 London, British Museum

Sophilos Dinos, wedding guests of Peleus and Thetis

François Vase, ca. 570 Found 1845 by Alessandro François at Chiusi in Etruria (Italy) Shattered 1900 and restored New Shape: Volute Krater Ergotimos potter: signed twice Kleitias painter: signed twice One frieze of animals: sphinxes, griffins; all other friezes of myth: Neck Calydonian boar hunt Funeral games for Patroklos Theseus’ victory dance (geranos) with Athenian boys and girls Lapiths and Centaurs Body: Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Achilles chasing Troilos at Troy Return of Hephaistos Handles: Gorgon Artemis with animals Ajax carrying dead Achilles Foot: Fight of the Cranes and Pygmies

François Vase: Attic black-figure volute krater, by Kleitias and Ergotimos, ca. 470 Started with Contours Filled in with black Used precise incision Used architecture for locales, separate compositions Profile, ¾ figures, frontal views Shows movement Model of draftsmanship Mythological storehouse Florence, Archaeological Museum

François Vase, side 2

Amasis Painter, 560-525 Signed 8 vases as potter; thought also to be painter Signed other vases for Lydos, a painter Hellenized form of Egyptian Ahmosis Prefers Belly Amphora, though others also Both pottery and painting are of exceptional quality Bold use of color and pattern Precise rendering of armor and clothing Symmetrical Dionysos is favorite subject

Attic black-figure amphora, Amasis Painter, c. 540-530 Dionysos and Maenads Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Attic black-figure olpe, by the Amasis painter, ca. 550-530. Herakles presented to the Olympians by Athena Paris, Musée du Louvre

Amasis Painter Olpe, detail Detail of clothing, armor; use of color; symmetry Hermes Athena

Exekias: Archaic black-figure master Influenced by Group E painters and potters Exekias also an influential potter Perhaps responsible for the early development of Type A cup and Type A belly amphora May have invented he calyx krater Signature: Exekias egraphse ka’poiese me Characteristics: Precision Dignity of figures Detail of armor, manes, drapery Originality: First to paint ships around dinoi Elegant forms of heroes and horses Method of showing emotion The divine in the human: new in the art of any people

Attic black-figure amphora by Exekias, c. 540. Ajax prepares for suicide Boulogne, Musée des Beaux Arts

Attic black-figure amphora by Exekias, ca. 540-530 Achilles killing Penthesileia London, British Museum

Exekias Achilles and Penthesileiadetail

Attic black-figure amphora by Exekias, c. 540-530. Ajax and Achilles playing a board game Vatican, Gregorian Etruscan Museum

Exekias, Ajax and Achilles, detail

http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~bruceh/cc307/archaic/index.html http://www.unc.edu/courses/clar049/ArchEtc.html

Attic black-figure kylix, made by Exekias, c. 530. Dionysos on a boat Munich, Museum Antikes Kleinkunst

Exekias Dionysos, rim Eye-Cup

Corinthian Pottery In competition with Athens Exekias amphora with Ajax and Achilles found in Etruria (Italy) Athenians trading more heavily with W Greeks Corinthians eventually could not compete Examples: Krater by the Three Maidens Painter, c. 560 Column krater with Boar Hunt, c.575

Corinthian black-figure Column Krater, c. 575 Toledo Museum of Art

Laconian Pottery S Peloponnese, chief city Sparta Most for local consumption Some exported to Taras, colony of Sparta High-stemmed, deep bowled cup Decorated interiors Examples: Laconian black-figure cup, by the Arkesilas Painter, c. 560 Laconian black-figure cup by the Hunt Painter, c. 550

Laconian black-figure cup, by the Hunt Painter, c. 550 Paris, Musée du Louvre

Cup by the Hunt Painer, detail

Chalkidian Pottery From Rhegium in Italy Wrote inscriptions in Greek Comparable to Athenian black-figure 550-500 Precise, elegant, energetic

Chalkidian black figure krater, c. 450 Chalkidian black figure krater, c. 450. Helen, Paris, Andromache, Hektor Martin von Wagner Museum, University of Würzburg

Attic Red Figure Reverse of Black-Figure Outline and details are now brush-drawn Brush allows for greater representationalism than incision Motion, ¾ views, foreshortening, natural expression No added color Invented by the painter of the Andokides Potter, called the Andokides Painter Begins with “bilingual pots”: One side black-figure One side red-figure

Attic bilingual amphora, Andokides’ workshop, 520 Attic bilingual amphora, Andokides’ workshop, 520. Herakles driving a bull Boston, Museum of Fine Arts

Attic bilingual amphora, Andokides, c. 525-520 Attic bilingual amphora, Andokides, c. 525-520. Ajax and Achilles play a board game

Attic bilingual amphora,attributed to the Andokides Painter, ca. 525 Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlung

Red-figure Pioneers Euphronios Euthymides Experimented with body in motion Consummate artists Favorite subjects: Heroic actions Symposia

Attic Red-figure Calyx-Krater, by Euphronios, 515. Death of Sarpedon Hypnos, Thanatos, Hermes, Sarpedon NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Death of Sarpedon, detail of Hypnos and Hermes

Detail of Sarpedon and Thanatos

Attic red-figure amphora by Euthymides, c. 510. Revelers Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen

Later Archaic Attic painters Berlin painter Douris Brygos painter Simple, elegant designs Often Dionysiac scenes

Attic red-figured volute krater, attributed to the Berlin painter, 500-480. Achilles fighting Hektor, Memnon London, British Museum

Attic red-figured cup, attributed to the Brygos Painter, 490-480. London, British Museum

Attic red-figure cup, made by Brygos, c. 480. Greeks vs Trojans Paris, Musée du Louvre

Attic red-figure cup, made by Kalliades, painted by Douris, 490-480. Paris, Musée du Louvre

Douris, Eos and Memnon, details

Sources John Griffiths Pedley, Greek Art and Archaeology John Boardman, Athenian Black Figure Vases John Boardman, Athenian Red Figure Vases, The Archaic Period National Archaeological Museum, Athens British Museum Musée du Louvre Vatican Museums Bruce Hartzler, Univ. of Texas, Greek Archaeology Survey (images, maps, site plans) Foundation of the Hellenic World (maps, images) Dr. Kenneth Sams, UNC-CH, Archaeology of Greece (images) Archaic Art