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 Front |
| Niobides Krater. Anonymous vase painter of Classical Greece known as the Niobid Painter. c. 460–450 B.C.E. Clay, red-figure technique (white highlights). By bringing in elements of wall paintings, the painter has given this vase its exceptional character. Wall painting was a major art form that developed considerably during the late fifth century BC, and is now only known to us through written accounts. Complex compositions were perfected, which involved numerous figures placed at different levels. This is the technique we find here where, for the first time on a vase, the traditional isocephalia of the figures has been abandoned |
| Cross-Cultural Comparisons: - Beaker with ibex motifs - The David Vases - Martínez, Black-on-black ceramic vessel |
| Content: - 2 sides - one side is of war almost - the other is more peaceful - kind of like the Standard of Ur? - Front: - Shows the story of a woman named Niobe - Niobe (a mortal woman) had 14 kids; 7 girls and 7 boys - She bragged that her kids were more numerous and more beautiful then the kids of goddess leto - Leto was the mother of Artemis (huntress) and Apollo (sun and music) - Artemis and Apollo exacted revenge for their mother by killing all of Niobe's kids (this is the scene on the front) - Artemis is reaching into her quiver for another arrow - Apollo is drawing his bow back - can see tension in Apollo's body and drapery - dead children litter the field - god and goddess are in perfect profile - Niobe's kids are more frontal - Back - Herakles (aka hercules) in the center (place of importance) - half mortal half god - holding a club and wearing a lion skin - his feet don’t touch the ground - everyone is placed around him - Herakles is surrounded by warriors some standing some reclining - Athena (wisdom) is on his left - maybe it's not a painting of herakles but rather a painting of a statue of herakles - maybe greek soldiers are coming to honor him and ask for protection before they go into battle - 490 bce - greeks battle enormous Persian army and somehow won - maybe this is showing soldiers asking for protection before battle at Marathon - there could have been very faint lines that show Herakles on a podium - which would make sense bc statue of a god with men rather than a god amongst men |
| Form: - figures are stiff - early classical - severe style - made of clay - red figure bc bodies are part of red clay pot and then black background — lots of detail allowed - in the past: greek vases before this had only one "line" - now figures occupy different levels - sense of an illusion of space - foreground and background but all figures are the same size - suggesting depth - might be a copy of a wall painting by Polygnotus - polygnotus painted in Athens and sanctuary of delphi (north of athens) - he was credited with the thought of being the first artist to paint figures in depth - no ancient greek wall paintings have survived |
| Context: - Created during the classic period (look below for classic period pottery characteristics) Greek Pottery: - Made of terracotta (fired clay) - Methods : - Throwing - clay is centered on rotating wheel - While rotating, the potter pulls up the clay and forms it to the desired shape - Turning and Joining - trimming superfluous or uneven clay to refine the shape of a vase/reduce the thickness walls after it has been thrown - put on wheel -- wood, metal or bone tools used - Burnishing - used to create a perfectly smooth surface for painting - when clay is leather-hard - rubbed with a hard, smooth object, most likely made of leather, wood, or smooth stone - Each period of time had its own technique - Geometric Period (c. 900-700 B.C.E.) - geometric patterns - Orientalizing Period (c. 700-600 B.C.E.) - animal processions and Near Eastern motifs - Archaic and Classical Periods (c. 600-323 B.C.E.) - vase-paintings primarily display human and mythological activities - painted scenes should not be thought of as photographs that document reality - aid in reconstructing the lives and beliefs of the ancient Greeks - To produce the characteristic red and black colors - used liquid clay as paint (termed “slip”) - 3 step process 1) kiln at 800 degrees centigrade - turns vase red 2) seal vents in kiln change temp to 900-950° centigrade- turns black; places with slip transformed into a glassy substance 3) vents reopened and unpainted zones become red again; slip / the painted areas retained a glossy black hue Red figure technique - invented in Athens around 525-520 BCE - inverse of black-figure - light-colored figures are set against a dark background - thick slip used to create "relief lines" to help outline - lines raised prominently from the surface White-ground technique - polychrome figures on a white-washed background Black figure technique - black figures with light background - developed by about 700 B.C. in Corinth - not adopted by vase-painters in Athens until about 620 B.C.E. - surface was first burnished and polished - ocher wash might have been applied for orange/red - burnished again - outlined design of the figures then filled in with black. - firing, incisions were made through the black gloss with sharp pointed tool show details of the figures - in the lighter color of the underlying clay |
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| Function: - Type of vessel: Calyx-krater: - Large punch bowl - used to mix water and wine |
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