Lecture 4: Athenian black-figure vase-painting

The Athenian black-figure technique of vase-painting was in use between circa 625-480 BC. It consists of black figures silhouetted against the deep orange-red clay of the pot: details of hair, musculature, facial features, draperies, etc. are incised onto the black figures, and added purple and white colours are often used to highlight particular aspects of the figures. Though the black-figure technique was invented at Corinth circa 700 BC, it was Athens which combined the technique with its own established tradition of figured narrative pot painting to command the pottery markets of the sixth century BC.

Neck amphora decorated by the Nettos Painter circa 620 BC. Athens National Archaeological Museum.

One of the earliest Athenian vases which is decorated in the black-figure style is this amphora by the Nettos Painter. The painter's name is an artificial one, created by modern scholars: it derives from the inscription which names the figures decorating the neck area where Herakles battles the centaur Nettos. On the body can be seen the running gorgon sisters of Medusa: Medusa herself falls to the ground, having been beheaded by Perseus.

Dinos (mixing bowl for wine and water) painted by Sophilos circa 580 BC. British Museum.

The first painter who identifies himself by placing his signature on his work is Sophilos: "Sophilos m'egrapsen" ("Sophilos painted me") is written in ancient Greek between the columns of the house drawn at top right. In early Athenian black-figure, the pot surface is often divided into horizontal friezes: here, the main figured frieze depicts the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the parents of Achilles, and the wedding guests are named by the painted inscriptions. Below this are a number of Corinthian style animal and floral friezes.

Dinos fragment, painted by Sophilos circa 580-570 BC. Athens National Archaeological Museum.

The painter's signature can be seen, along with the written identification of the pictures subject as the "Games of Patroklos" - i.e. the funeral games held in honour of Achilles' great friend and companion, Patroklos, who fell in the Trojan War.

The François vase, made by Ergotimos and painted by Kleitias circa 570-565 BC. Florence Archaeological Museum. Found at Chiusi in Etruria.

Standing 66cm high, the François vase is decorated with 270 human and animal figures and 121 inscriptions. Ergotimos and Kleitias each sign their name twice. From top to bottom we see the Hunt for the Calydonian Boar, a chariot race (perhaps Patroklos' funeral games), the Wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Achilles' attack on the Trojan prince Troilos at the Fountain House, Mythical Beasts and (at the foot) Pygmies Battling Cranes.

The years 560-525 BC see Athenian black-figure reach its mature prime. At this time we witness a move away from the earlier Corinthian influences, and the disappearance of the frieze style of decoration: this is replaced by a new focus on larger scale compositions which represent the drama of a single moment. Three outstanding painters of this period were Lydos, The Amasis Painter and Exekias.

Psykter-amphora decorated by Lydos circa 550 BC. British Museum.

Lydos ("The Lydian") was at work between circa 560-540 BC. here we see a psykter-amphora, or wine cooler, which carries a very appropriate Dionysiac scene.

Neck amphora decorated by the Amasis Painter circa 540-530 BC. Paris, Cabinet des Médailles.

The Amasis Painter worked with a potter who signs his name Amasis. The Amasis Painter was active between circa 560-525 BC. Like other pot painters of the time he excelled in the depiction of mythological subjects, here Dionysos with two maenads, but he was also one of the first painters to introduce 'genre', or everyday life scenes of any complexity or true originality. 

Lekythos decorated by the Amasis Painter. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

One such genre scene from the hand of the Amasis Painter shows a wedding procession approaching the groom's family home. As the wedding procession, which transferred the bride from her parental home to that of her husband, took place at night the procession is led by a torch-bearing female, while the couple are welcomed to the house by a second torch-holding woman, perhaps the groom's mother

Neck amphora decorated by Exekias circa 530 BC. British Museum.

Exekias, at work between circa 550-525 BC, was perhaps the most original pot painter of the sixth century. His now famous amphorae are powerful psychological studies of the mythological characters portrayed, and the scenes are imbued with a profound sense of pathos. Here, Achilles deals the final blow to the enemy queen, Penthesilea: as their eyes meet in her final moments of life Achilles all too late recognises his love for the dying woman.

Belly amphora decorated by Exekias circa 540 BC. Vatican Museum.

Achilles and Ajax, two of the greatest Greek warriors, play a board game during a lull in the fighting at Troy. Their absorption in their game is indicated by their stooped postures, but their armour and weapons remind us of the violence of battle which awaits them.

Belly amphora decorated by Exekias. Museo Civico, Bologna.

Ajax, unable to live with the shame of being denied the armour of the now dead Achilles whose body he had rescued from the battlefield, prepares to commit suicide by falling on his sword. The isolation of the figure underscores the hero's lonely fate, and in this moment of anguished clam before Ajax's violent death, even the palm tree seems to droop in sorrow.