Chapter XVII
.). Among the four cups, one in Munich (339) is a masterpiece of its kind. It is of the later form of B.F. kylix (see p. 374), and represents on the inside Dionysos in a ship which takes the form of a fish, the mast and yard overgrown with the vine; on the exterior are large eyes and groups of warriors. The other three are of the earlier “Kleinmeister” type, and two are merely signed, without subject.
[Illustration: FIG. 96. KYLIX BY EXEKIAS: “MINOR ARTIST” TYPE.]
Exekias may be regarded as one of the most typical B.F. artists. His subjects are mostly from the usual stock-in-trade of the time, but distinguished above other examples by the care and accuracy displayed in every detail, especially in the extraordinary delicacy and minuteness of the incising and the judicious but sparing use of accessory colour, as also by the careful naming of the figures in almost all cases. He stands midway between Klitias of the François vase and the transitional work of Andokides and Pamphaios, and helps to carry on the tradition of minuteness and accuracy in detail characteristic of all these artists.
=Amasis= is an artist of similar calibre and temperament. His style is more individual than that of any B.F. artist, and hence it is possible to attribute to him many vases which he has not signed. It is marked, like that of Exekias, by accuracy of drawing and careful and delicate work in details[1211]; but his subjects are more monotonous and his figures much more rigid and conventional. There is much in his vases which suggests a connection with Ionia, especially with the later fabrics discussed above (p. 356); and this point has been well brought out by Karo.[1212] We have seven signed vases from his hand, of which no less than four are jugs of a characteristic form—a form not unknown in Ionic fabrics,[1213] but usually found among the later Corinthian wares. It is of the form known as _olpe_, with the design in a panel, on the right side of the handle only. An example of his work is given in Fig. 97.
[Illustration: FIG. 97. PERSEUS SLAYING MEDUSA: FROM AN OLPE BY AMASIS (BRITISH MUSEUM).]
It has been thought by more than one writer that he must have been a foreigner. The name, of course, suggests Egypt, and his Ionic affinities would further suggest Naukratis or Daphnae as his home; but he may well have come from Asia Minor.[1214] His best-known work is the fine amphora in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris (222), with a representation of Athena and Poseidon, and among the _olpae_, one in the British Museum (B 471), with Perseus slaying Medusa (Fig. 97), and one in the Louvre (F 30), with Herakles’ reception by the Olympian deities.[1215]
Of the other artists in this group, Nearchos is only represented by a fragmentary vase from the Athenian Acropolis[1216]; Timagoras was the artist of two fine hydriae in the Louvre (F 38–9), one representing Herakles wrestling with the fish-bodied Triton; Tychios has also signed a hydria; Kolchos is only known from one vase, but that a very fine jug with the combat of Herakles and Kyknos (Berlin 1732). The design on the last-named is not, as usual, confined to a panel, but is continued all round the body.
The list of “Kleinmeister,” or minor artists, is a long one,[1217] but few individual names are of importance. The most prolific is _Tleson_, whose name appears on no fewer than forty cups, fourteen of which have no design, but only the signature on either side. Others have a design in the interior only, such as a Sphinx or Siren; others, again, a figure of an animal—a cock, hen, or ram—on either side above the signature. Seventeen are ascribed to _Hermogenes_, nine with signature only, and thirteen to _Xenokles_, of which eight have no design. But that Xenokles sometimes had larger aims is shown by two of the cups in the British Museum and the Deepdene collection, as well as by an oinochoe which he made for the painter Kleisophos to decorate. The Museum cup (B 425) has on one side the three cosmic deities Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades; on the other a subject of four figures which may be interpreted as the return of Persephone from Hades. The Deepdene cup[1218] has in the interior the procession of the goddesses to the Judgment of Paris, and on the exterior Herakles with Kerberos and Achilles’ pursuit of Troilos. _Phrynos_, an artist of similar style, has one cup (B.M. B 424) with the Birth of Athena and the reception of Herakles in Olympos, the figures being very diminutive, as are those on the British Museum Xenokles cup. _Eucheiros_ and _Sakonides_[1219] show a preference for a female bust painted in outline on either side of the cup, as does also Hermogenes.[1220] _Archikles_ and _Glaukytes_ are associated on a fine cup in Munich (333), which is remarkable for the number of figures each side, the style being very minute and detailed. On one side is Theseus slaying the Minotaur, on the other the hunt of the Calydonian boar, appropriate figures being added each side to fill in the spaces at the ends of the friezes. There are seventeen figures in the first scene, and, exclusive of animals, nine in the latter. A similar cup in the British Museum (B 400), with continuous frieze, representing a battle (twenty fighters, three chariots), is signed by Glaukytes alone. Other names are Anakles, Charitaios, Ergoteles, Epitimos, Myspios, Neandros, Psoieas, Sokles, Sondros, Thrax, and Tlenpolemos.
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PLATE XXX
[Illustration:
VASES BY NIKOSTHENES (BRITISH MUSEUM). ]
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In the fourth class we are introduced to a very interesting personality, that of =Nikosthenes=, the most prolific of all Greek vase-painters known to us, and of the B.F. artists by far the most original.[1221] He was, however, a potter rather than a painter, and on many of his vases the designs are little more than decorative motives. He favoured vases of metallic form,[1222] such as the _phiale_ _mesomphalos_, and invented a peculiar type of amphora, also derived from a metallic origin, with broad, flat handles and slim body, with moulded rings dividing the subjects (see Plate XXX.). Altogether, seventy-eight examples with his signature are known, of which forty-eight, or nearly two-thirds, are amphorae, nineteen are cups, four jugs, and one a krater. To these must be added two cups in mixed B.F. and R.F. technique, one made for Epiktetos, and three kanthari in the R.F. method, of which he was probably only the potter. That he had affinities with the “minor artists” is shown by his making a cup with Anakles, as also by the style of some of his paintings[1223]; while some of his cups have only the signature.
The amphorae are all very much alike, with subjects of a simple character—Sphinxes and Sirens, combats of warriors or boxers, Satyrs and Maenads dancing, and Herakles with the Nemean lion, a subject of which he seems to have been especially fond. The large krater in the British Museum (B 364) is interesting as an early example of the form with volute handles, and for the manner of its decoration, with a narrow band of minute figures on the neck only. In the Louvre there are two elegant jugs representing the reception of Herakles in Olympos (F 116–17), the figures being painted on a white slip in the Ionic manner.[1224] This point is important, because it has been held by many writers that Nikosthenes was of Ionian origin, and introduced the white-slip method at Athens. Attempts have even been made to connect him with Naukratis. The jug figured on Plate XXX. is similar to those in the Louvre, and is probably also Nikosthenes’ handiwork.[1225]
Whether this view can be maintained or not, there is no doubt that towards the end of the sixth century the practice of using a white slip does appear at Athens for vases with black figures, and it is quite reasonable to associate its introduction with a versatile and original artist like Nikosthenes. But the consideration of this style of painting must be reserved for a later page (p. 455).
Pamphaios and Epiktetos, with their associates Hischylos, Pheidippos, and Chelis, must, on the whole, be regarded as belonging to the R.F. period, the majority of their works being purely in that style; they will therefore be considered under a subsequent heading. But the case of the remaining name in our fourth class, that of =Andokides=, is somewhat different. Among the signed examples we have from his hand only one is purely B.F., three are in mixed style, and two are purely R.F. It is clear, then, that he represents, better than any other artist, the intermediate stage between the two styles, more especially as a whole series of amphorae can be attributed to him in which the two are combined, sometimes in what has been called “bilingual” fashion—that is to say, that the design on both sides of the vase is identical, except for the variation of technique.[1226]
There are, then, six vases signed by Andokides, of which one is a kylix, the rest amphorae with designs in panels and broad grooved handles. The B.F. amphora represents a chariot seen from the front, in very minute, careful style.[1227] One of the “mixed” amphorae (Louvre F 203) has three Amazons preparing for battle (B.F.), and women in the bath, one of whom is swimming, another diving (R.F.) [1228]; the other, a Dionysiac B.F. scene, and Apollo, Artemis, Leto, and Ares on the R.F. side. The “mixed” kylix[1229] is a remarkable example of the counterchanging principle, the two halves of the exterior being exactly reversed in technique, the dividing-line passing under the handles.[1230] Of the two R.F. amphorae, one in Berlin represents the contest for the tripod and a pair of wrestlers; the other, in the Louvre, a combat and a musical contest.[1231]
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PLATE XXXI
[Illustration:
AMPHORA IN STYLE OF ANDOKIDES (BRITISH MUSEUM). OBV.: HEROES PLAYING DRAUGHTS. ]
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PLATE XXXII
[Illustration:
AMPHORA IN STYLE OF ANDOKIDES (BRITISH MUSEUM). REV.: HERAKLES WITH NEMEAN LION. ]
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The characteristics of Andokides’ work are freedom of composition, delicacy of drawing,[1232] and wealth of detail; but he is always bound by conventionalities, and his power of observation is stronger than his power of correct delineation. Furtwaengler thinks his combinations of B.F. and R.F. were deliberately chosen to show the superiority of the latter.[1233] His date may be placed about 525 B.C., and it is probable that his name appears on a marble base found on the Acropolis of Athens. He seems to have learnt his art either from Exekias or Amasis, probably the latter.
Scholars are generally agreed in attributing to him the series of “bilingual” amphorae already mentioned, of which the most notable examples are one in Munich (388) representing Herakles banqueting, and one in Boston with Herakles and a bull.[1234] Even more probable is the attribution to his hand of some half-dozen amphorae of the type which he employed, with _different_ designs on either side, but B.F. and R.F. respectively. The most interesting of these is an amphora in the British Museum (B 193 = Plates XXXI.-II.), with the typical B.F. representation of warriors playing with _pessi_ on one side, quite in the manner of Exekias (see above), and on the other Herakles with the Nemean lion, in which scene the painter has attempted a new departure. The lion is already subdued, and the hero carries it in triumph on his shoulder, no doubt with a reminiscence of the Erymanthian boar types (see