Transcript
Introduction of Greek PotteryReading:Stokstad, 117-119, 127-128, 141-142.
Range:600-31 BCEArchaic, Classical, Hellenistic
Terms/Concepts:black figure, red figure, white ground, kiln, slip, oxidization, reduction, reoxidization, pinax, slip, kylix, amphora, lekythos, alabastron, krater, symposium, libations, Panathenaic festival, kottabos, hetaira,
Monument List:Euphronios (painter) and Euxitheos (potter), Euphronios Krater, Archaic, c. 515 BCE.Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Game, Black-Figure Amphora, Archaic, 540-530 BCEPriam Painter, Women at Fountain House, Greek, Attic, Black-Figure, ca. 520-510 BCERed-Figure Lekythos with Domestic Scene, Attica, Greece, Early Classical, 475-450 BCENiobid Painter, Niobid Krater, Early Classical, 475-450 BCE
Why Study Greek Vases?
1. Greek pottery depicts many scenes from everyday life that often go unrecorded.
2. It expands our understanding of paintings on a larger scale.
3. It extensively explores mythology/literature beyond the text.
4. Residue from pots gives valuable insight into the Greek diet.
Chronology
Euphronios (painter) and Euxitheos (potter), Euphronios Krater, Archaic, c. 515 BCE.
“Euphronios painted me”
“Euxitheos made me”
Digging the Clay
Corinthian Pinax, c. 750 BCE
Settling the Clay
Modern Clay Pits, c. 1960.
Forming the Pot
Skyphos with Potter’s Wheel, c. 550 BCE
“Painting” the Pots
Red-Figure Bell Krater, Pottery Workshop, Early Classical, c. 480-450 BCE
Black FigureRed Ground: made from a black clay that fires black
Black Figure:painted on slip that fires black
Details: scratched out of the fired slip
Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Game, Black-Figure Amphora, Archaic, 540-530 BCE
Reddish Pigment: metals mixed with slip.
Red Figure
Euphronios (painter) and Euxitheos (potter), Euphronios Krater, Archaic, c. 515 BCE.
Details: painted on slip with a fine brush
Black Ground: figures mapped out by the application of slip
Red Figure: no slip applied
White Ground
White Ground: white-firing slip
Color: either pigments with white slip or tempera
*Tempera is a water-based paint with a egg white and/or glue binder
*This is much like the buon fresco technique.
White Ground Lekythos, Woman Playing Lyre, Late Classical, c. 420 BCE
Feeding the Kiln
Black-Figure Hydria, Pottery Workshop, Archaic, c. 550 BCE
Firing
1. Oxidation2. Reduction3. Reoxidation4. Cooling
The KilnIf you will pay me for my song, O potters,Then come, Athena, and hold thy hand above the kiln!May the kotyloi and all the kanastra turn a good black,May they be well fired and fetch the price aked,Many being sold in the marketplace and many on the roads,And bring in much money, and may my song be pleasing.But if you (potters) turn shameless and deceitful,Then do I summon the ravagers of kilns,Both Syntrips (Smather) and Smaragos (Crasher) and Asbetos (Unquenchable) too, and Sabaktes (Shake-to-Pieces)And Omodamos (Conquereor of the Unbaked), who makes much trouble for this craft.Stamp on stoking tunnel and chambers, and may the whole kilnBe thrown into confusing, while the potters loudly wail.As grinds a horse’s jaw so may the kiln grindTo powder all the pots within it.[Come, too, daughter of the Sun, Circe of many spells,Cast cruel spells, do evil to them and their handiwork.Here too let Cheiron lead many Centaurs,Both those that escaped the hands of Heralkles and those that perished.May they his these pots hard, and may the kiln collapse.And may the potters wail as they see the mischief.But I shall rejoiced at the sight of their luckless craft.]And if anyone bends over to look into the spy-hole, may his whole face Be scorched, so that all may learn to deal justly.
Decorative Motifs: Key Meander
Decorative Motifs: Palmettes
Euphronios (painter) and Euxitheos (potter), Euphronios Krater, Archaic, c. 515 BCE.
Decorative Motifs: Ivy
Decorative Motifs: Egg and Dart
Everyday Life: Symposium
Everyday Life: SymposiumKobattos
Everyday Life: Symposium
Hetaira
Everyday Life: Symposium
Makron (Painter) and Hieron (Potter), Red-Figure Kylix with Symposium Scenes, Greek, Attic, c. 480 BCE.
Ivy = Dionysus
Everyday Life: Fetching Water
Priam Painter, Women at Fountain House, Greek, Attic, Black-Figure, ca. 520-510 BCE
Architecture is rarely found on vases, except for fountain scenes
Fetching water was scene as one of the few public acts of women
The hydria was the most practical form for gathering water.
Everyday Life: Fetching Water
Hydria with Fountain Scene, Greek, Attic, Black-Figure, ca. 510-500 BCE
Fountain houses were also places for women to socialize and interact.
Everyday Life: Fetching Water
Hydria with Fountain Scene, Greek, Attic, Black-Figure, ca. 510-500 BCE
Fountain houses were also places where women and children could refresh themselves.
*
Everyday Life: The Toilette
Everyday Life: The Toilette
Red-Figure Lekythos with Domestic Scene, Attica, Greece, Early Classical, 475-450 BCE
Everyday Life: The Toilette
Red-Figure Squat Lekythos with Woman Dressing, Attica, Greece, Early Classical, 475-450 BCE
Everyday Life: The Toilette
Red-Figure Squat Lekythos with Woman Dressing, Attica, Greece, Early Classical, 475-450 BCE
Everyday Life: TheaterTheater Mask
Theater Scene, Krater, Apulian Red Ware, c. 500 BCE.
Everyday Life: TheaterTheater Mask
Attributed to the Konnakis Group, Calyx-krater depicting a phlyax masquerading as a reveler, Red-figure, Greek, South Italian, Apulian, ca. 400–390 b.c.;
Everyday Life: TheaterTheater Mask
Attributed to the Konnakis Group, Calyx-krater depicting a phlyax masquerading as a reveler, Red-figure, Greek, South Italian, Apulian, ca. 400–390 b.c.;
Everyday Life: Panathenaic Festival
Panathenaic Amphora with a foot race, Attic Black Figure, Archaic c. 540 BCE
Everyday Life: Panathenaic Festival
Mythological Scenes: Dionysus and the Pirates
Exekias, Dionysus and the Pirates, Attic Black Figure, Archaic, 540 BCE
Mythological Scenes: Trojan War
Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Game, Black-Figure Amphora, Archaic, 540-530 BCE
Mythological Scenes: Trojan War
Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Game, Black-Figure Amphora, Archaic, 540-530 BCE
Mythological Scenes: Trojan War
Exekias, The Suicide of Ajax, Black-Figure Amphora, Archaic, c. 540 BCE
Mythological Scenes
Achilles killing Penthesilea, Attic Black-Figure Amphora, Archaic, 540-530 BCE
Mythological Scenes
Niobid Painter, Niobid Krater, Early Classical, 475-450 BCE
Mythological Scenes
Niobid Painter, Niobid Krater, Early Classical, 475-450 BCE
Critical Thinking Questions
1. Why are vases an important aspect of Greek art to study?
2. How do the form of the pots correspond to their uses?
3. How is the painted decoration on vases related to their functions?
4. How are Greek vases attributed to some artists?
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