Greek Vase Painting
Ancient Greek Culture and Art
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Ancient Greek Art
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Most of the ancient Greek art that is
still around today is in the forms of
pottery, sculpture and architecture.
Most ancient Greek paintings have
deteriorated or been destroyed,
except for most paintings on pottery.
Where have they gone?
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Greek painters worked mainly on wooden panels, which deteriorated over
time.
One of the sad facts of ancient history is that when marble is burned, lime is
produced, and that was also the fate of the great bulk of Greek marble
statuary during the Middle Ages. Likewise, the shortage of metal during the
Middle Ages led to the majority of Greek bronze statues being melted down.
Those statues which had survived did so primarily because they had been
buried and forgotten, or as in the case of bronzes having been lost at sea.
The great majority of Greek buildings have not survived to this day: either
they had been pillaged in war, had been looted for building materials or had
been destroyed in Greece’s many earthquakes. Only a handful of temples,
such as the Parthenon and the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, have been
spared.
Performing a libation, interior of a bowl by Makron, circa 480 BC. Paris:Louvre
Procession of men, kylix by the Triptolemos Painter, circa 480 BC. Paris: Louvre
Ancient Greek Pottery
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Greek pots are important because they tell us so much about how life was in
ancient Greece.
Ancient Greek pots were often beautifully decorated with scenes from daily life.
Sometimes these scenes reflected what the pot was used for.
Shapes and Sizes
Psykteres were wine
coolers.
Oinochoai were
wine jugs.
Chytra
Used as cooking
pots.
Stamnoi were used for
holding wine before
mixing it with water
Lekythoi were oil
bottles.
Hydria
Used to carry
water.
Alabastron
Small vases used by
women for storing
perfume or oil.
Amphora Used for
carrying and
storing solids and
liquids.
Chous
Used as jugs.
Kantharos
Used as drinking cups
with two vertical
handles
Krater comes from
a word meaning
'mix'. Kraters were
used for mixing
wine with water.
Kylikes were
special wine cups.
The name for this large
vase means 'carrying to
the bath.' Loutrophoroi
were used to hold water
for bathing or for
washing.
Lekanides were
small, shallow
bowls used by
women for storing
jewellery and
trinkets.
Pyxides were
small pots in
which women
stored their
cosmetics, powder
or jewellery.
•Pots came in all sorts of shapes and sizes
depending on their purpose.
•The Ancient Greeks made pottery for
everyday use, not for display.
Greek Vase Painting
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There are two main stylistic periods in Greek vase painting, black-figure and red-figure.
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All stylistic periods of Ancient Greek pottery:
the
Protogeometric from about 1050 BC;
the
Geometric from about 900 BC;
the
Late Geometric or Archaic from about 750 BC;
the
Black Figure from the early 7th century BC;
and
the Red Figure from about 530 BC.
Black–Figure Technique
Scene from a black-figure amphora from Athens, 6th century BC, now in the Louvre, Paris
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Black-figure is called that because the people (the figures) are black, and the background is a reddish brown.
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Black-figure technique was likely developed around 700 B.C. in Corinth. As the name implies, figures
appeared, after the firing of the pot, as black silhouettes against the background of the light red or yellowish
clay of the pot. Within the black figures, incised lines revealed the red clay beneath, allowing the artist to
trace the inner details of the figure.
Actually black figure is done all with one type of clay. The clay found near Athens has a lot of iron in it, so it
looks black when it is wet. But if you fire it in an kiln where there is plenty of air getting in, the clay rusts, and
turns red. This is because the iron mixes with the oxygen in the air. If you fire it in an kiln with no air getting
in, the iron can't mix with oxygen, and the pot stays black. So you can have either red or black pots.
Red–Figure Technique
Red-figure scene on the Belly Amphora by the Andokides Painter (Munich 2301). Munich: Staatliche Antikensammlungen
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In red-figure the people are red and the background is black.
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The red-figure technique was invented in Athens c. 530 B.C. The figures remained in the orange-red
color of the clay, and the surrounding background was turned to black by the firing of the pot. With this, the
method of detailing the figures was changed dramatically. Instead of using a sharp tool to incise lines, the
painters used a fine brush, pen or reed to apply lines of color for the inner details of the figures.
Then and Now
•The Map of Ancient Greece looks much
different than the modern world.
•Ancient Greek had City-States instead of the
countries we have today.
Now - The Mediterranean World
Then - The Greek World
Mycenaean Civilization
“Dark Ages”
Geometric Period
Archaic Period
Classical Period
Hellenistic Period
Roman Period
Byzantine Period
2000-1100
1100-900
900-700
700-480
480-323
323- 31
31 BC-323
323 - 1453
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
AD
AD
Everyday Life in Ancient Greece
People
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Society dominated by Men
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Children
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Wife's duty to bear legitimate children and manage the
household. Women were expected to remain inside her home
except for rare occasions.
Allowed to play until they were seven. When they were seven
boys went to school and girl started domestic chores.
Marriage
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Arranged by families based on dowry
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Unveiling of the bride at wedding
Slavery
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Property of their masters rather than citizens of Greece
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domestic servants, factory workers, shopkeepers,
mineworkers, farm workers, ship's crewmembers
police force, clerks at the treasury office
Food
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Bread, olives, figs, cheese, vegetables, fruit, dried fish, wine
Did not have sugar, sweetened their food with honey
Did have utensils, ate with their hands
Homes
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Made of mudbrick and pottery tiles.
Floor mosaic or plaster.
High windows so thieves couldn’t break in.
Greek Alphabet
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First to use separate symbols
for each vowel and
consonant.
Used since about the 9th
century BC
Pottery
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The Vase - great artistic legacy
Pottery made for everyday use, not for display drinking & storage
Black Figure from tearly 7th century BC
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red and white details and incising for outlines and details
Red Figure from about 530 BC
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pots being painted black & the figures painted in red