Reed Painter
The Reed Painter (fl. 420s–410s BC) is an anonymous Greek vase painter of white-ground lekythoi, a type of vessel for containing oil often left as grave offerings. Works are attributed to either the "Reed Painter" or his atelier.
The vessels of the Reed Painter are typical of white-ground lekythoi in that they often focus on real people, in contrast to the earlier black-figure tradition that featured scenes of mythical figures pertaining to Dionysiac cult.[1] The purpose of the lekythos is often reflected in its subject matter. This artist's most common theme is a scene depicting a visit to a tomb. The figures, usually a woman bringing offerings or a youth leaning on a spear, display quiet dignity rather than emotion. The tomb, topped by a pediment, provides important evidence for funerary monuments in Attica at the time. The artist takes his name from his characteristic use of reeds in the landscape, particularly in depictions of Charon, the ferryman of the dead in Greek mythology.[2]
A lekythos by the Reed Painter is one of only a few white-figure examples that depict a horseman at a tomb; unusually, the youth sits at the tomb with his horse rather than riding it.[3] He may be an ephebe in training for the cavalry, as he wears the black cloak (chlamys) that was characteristic attire for the Athenian ephebe at certain processions and festivals. He also wears a helmet in the shape of the petasos, a hat typically worn by travelers, the metal version of which appears on Athenian reliefs and is known from archaeology. He carries two hunting spears, and not the kamax, the long thin spear principally used by Greek cavalry.[4]
Around the turn of the 21st century a number of the artist's lekythoi were discovered in a mass burial of plague victims in Athens.[5] Work from the atelier of the Reed Painter is concentrated in Attica, though a few examples have been found as exports to Gela and Corinth.[6]
The Reed Painter worked in true white-ground technique, in which polychrome figures are outlined on the white ground, first in a dilute brown glaze and then in a more-fluid matt black or red. Women's skin was painted white on white, with solid colors on garments. The colors—including bright red, yellow, purple, blue, and green—were added after firing.[7] The unstable pigments have flaked away and often left figures on surviving vases with the appearance of nudity when they were intended to be clothed.[8]
References
- ^ Lawrence A. Tritle, A New History of the Peloponnesian War (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), p. 49.
- ^ Peter Connor and Heather Jackson, A Catalogue of Greek Vases in the Collection of the University of Melbourne at the Ian Potter Museum of Art (University of Melbourne, 2000), p. 159.
- ^ John H. Oakley, "White Lekythoi from Gela," in Ta Attika: Attic Figured Vases from Gela («L'Erma» di Bretschneider, 2003), p. 212.
- ^ Sekunda, Nicholas (2005) [1986]. The Ancient Greeks. Osprey. p. 19.
- ^ Oakley, "White Lekythoi from Gela," p. 212.
- ^ Maria Cecilia d'Ercole, "Figures hybrides d l'identité: Le cas de l'Adriatique préromaine," in Identités ethniques dans le monde grec antique (Presses Universitaires du Mirall, 2007), p. 172.
- ^ Connor and Jackson, A Catalogue of Greek Vases, p. 157.
- ^ Donald White et al., The Ancient Greek World: The Rodney S. Young Gallery (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1995), p. 35.
External links
- Works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- A Work at the Art Institute of Chicago
- v
- t
- e
- Painter of Acropolis 606
- Affecter
- Amasis Painter
- Anagyrus Painter
- Anakles
- Arkesilas Painter
- Athena Painter
- Antimenes Painter
- Beldam Painter
- Bellerophon Painter
- Painter of Berlin A 34
- Painter of Berlin 1686
- BMN Painter
- Burgon Group
- C Painter
- Castellani Painter
- Cerameicus Painter
- Chimera Painter
- Class of Cabinet des Médailles 218
- Columbus Painter
- Daybreak Painter
- Diosphos Painter
- Dodwell Painter
- Duel Painter
- Edinburgh Painter
- Elbows Out
- Euphiletos Painter
- Gela Painter
- Goltyr Painter
- Gorgon Painter
- Haimon Painter
- Heidelberg Painter
- Horse-bird Painter
- Hypobibazon Class
- Kabiria Group
- Kassandra Painter
- Kleitias
- Lion Painter
- Lydos
- Lysippides Painter
- Madrid Painter
- Mastos Painter
- Painter of Munich 1410
- N Painter
- Naucratis Painter
- Nearchos
- Nessos Painter
- Painter of Nicosia Olpe
- Nikoxenos Painter
- Northampton Group
- Oxford Palmette Class
- Painter of Palermo 489
- Panther Painter
- Perizoma Group
- Pholoe Painter
- Phrynos Painter
- Piraeus Painter
- Polos Painter
- Pontic Group
- Priam Painter
- Princeton Painter
- Psiax
- Ptoon Painter
- Rider Painter
- Rycroft Painter
- Sappho Painter
- Sophilos
- Swing Painter
- Taleides Painter
- Theseus Painter
- Three Line Group
- Tityos Painter
- Tydeus Painter
- Xenokles Painter
Comast Group | |
---|---|
Group E | |
Gorgoneion Group | |
Leagros Group | |
Little Masters |
- Achilles Painter
- Aison
- Altamura Painter
- Amykos Painter
- Andokides painter
- Antiphon Painter
- Apollodoros
- Aristophanes
- Asteas
- Baltimore Painter
- Berlin Painter
- Painter of the Berlin Dancing Girl
- Brygos Painter
- Bryn Mawr Painter
- Chrysis Painter
- Codrus Painter
- Darius Painter
- Dinos Painter
- Dokimasia Painter
- Douris
- Eretria Painter
- Eucharides Painter
- Foundry Painter
- Harrow Painter
- Hasselmann Painter
- Hermonax
- Ilioupersis Painter
- Jena Painter
- Kerch style
- Kleophon Painter
- Kleophrades Painter
- Makron
- Marsyas Painter
- Meidias Painter
- Meleager Painter
- Niobid Painter
- Onesimos
- Oreithyia Painter
- Pamphaios
- Penthesilea Painter
- Persephone Painter
- Phiale Painter
- Pisticci Painter
- Pistoxenos Painter
- Polygnotos
- Providence Painter
- Reed Painter
- Shuvalov Painter
- Siren Painter
- Sisyphus Painter
- Skythes
- Snub-nose Painter
- Tarporley Painter
- Tarquinia Painter
- Tithonos Painter
- Triptolemos Painter
- Underworld Painter
- Varrese Painter
- Painter of the Vatican Mourner
- Villa Giulia Painter
- Wedding Painter
- YZ Group
Pioneer Group |
|
---|---|
Mannerists |