Definition of “black-figured”—The François vase—Technical and stylistic details—Shapes—Decorative patterns—Subjects and types—Artists' signatures—Exekias and Amasis—Minor Artists—Nikosthenes—Andokides—“Affected” vases—Panathenaic amphorae—Vases from the Kabeirion—Opaque painting on black ground—Vase-painting and literary tradition—Early Greek painting and its subsequent development.

The term “black-figured” is generally applied to the Athenian fabrics of a certain well-defined character and a comparatively restricted period, but in point of fact is strictly applicable to several of the classes already discussed, such as the Chalcidian and the later Corinthian and Ionian wares. It is, indeed, in some respects inadequate as a definition. We must remember that it was originally introduced at a time when the Greek vases in public museums consisted mainly of two classes—the one with figures painted in black silhouette on red ground, the other with figures drawn in outline and surrounded with black, so that they stand out in red. Between these two classes the terms “black-figured” and “red-figured” offered an obvious and useful distinction. By way of illustration, it may be advantageous to make a comparison between the two main varieties of black-figured Attic amphorae (see pp. 161, 221), as, for instance, they are grouped on the two sides of the Second Vase Room of the British Museum, and those with red figures in the Third Room. In the one class of black-figured amphorae the whole vase stands out in the natural red colour of the clay, whereas the red-figured amphorae are covered with black colour, so as to conceal the whole of the red of the clay except where it is left to fill in the contours of the figures. In other words, the one class, which we may term “red-bodied” amphorae, are red all but the figures; the other class are black all but the figures. There is, however, an intermediate class, which no doubt suggested the arrangement of decoration on the red-figured amphorae (see below, p. 411), and which we may call “black-bodied” amphorae. Here the whole body of the vase is covered with black colour, except a framed panel, which is left in the red to receive the black figures. It is clear, then, that this second class of black-figured amphorae approaches more nearly in aspect to the red-figured, although it does not follow that they were necessarily a late or transitional development.

But in regard to our definition, it is necessary to reckon with the fact that there are not only vases of an earlier stage of art which have black figures painted on a (more or less) red ground, but that there are others in which the figures are painted not on red, but on a white slip. In particular we may instance the Cyrenaic vases and some of the Naucratite wares. We thus lose the sense of an exact contrast between black figures on red ground and red figures on black; and, moreover, the term acquires almost too wide a connotation to be of any value for a system of classification. The term “black-figured” must therefore be used to some extent conventionally, to denote a certain class of vases made at Athens during a certain period and with certain characteristics. The latter may be summarised as follows: (1) black varnish entirely filling in the contours of the figures; (2) red glaze (or white slip) employed as background; (3) details indicated by accessory pigments of white and purple, and incised lines; (4) subjects almost exclusively human and mythological figures.

The history of vase-painting in the middle of the sixth century B.C. is largely the history of a gradual centralising of that art in one place from a number of scattered local fabrics. This was mainly brought about by one cause—namely, the extraordinary advance in art and culture at Athens under the beneficent rule of the tyrant Peisistratos and his successors (565–510 B.C.). Previous to this time Athenian art was very limited in its scope, and in the domain of painting had so far produced nothing except the great Dipylon funeral vases, their immediate successors (the “Proto-Attic” wares), and the “Tyrrhenian” vases, which, as we have seen, were largely under the influence of Corinth. Attic importations into Italy cannot be traced until the black-figure style is well developed.

The immediate result of this advance was to attract artists from all parts of Greece—not only from Corinth, whose power was now on the wane, but also from Ionia, whose artists were driven to seek refuge elsewhere by the encroaching conquests of the Persian monarchs. Thus we shall see that certain artists, like Amasis and Nikosthenes, infused a large amount of Ionic element into their productions, just as in others we see the influence, more or less marked, of Corinth. But one marked characteristic of the Attic sixth-century vases is the entire disappearance of Oriental influence.

At the head of the new development stands the famous François vase in Florence (Plate XXVIII.), to which allusion has been made already (p. 73). Its date can hardly be later than the middle of the sixth century, probably somewhat earlier, and the two artists Klitias and Ergotimos, who were responsible for its production, are among the earliest of whom we have any record at Athens. The alphabet of the inscriptions leaves no doubt that it is a purely Athenian work, and the technique is also purely Attic, as are some of the subjects; but there are not a few small points which betray the influence of a Corinthian artist, such as the arrangement in several friezes. The winged goddesses, Sphinxes, and animals are non-Attic, but not necessarily Corinthian. It is, however, chiefly interesting for its wealth of subjects, which are mentioned in another chapter (Chapter XII.); with these every available space is decorated. The style has been described as “dry, precise, and careful,” the artist as “exact and well instructed.” Closely related to this vase is one in the British Museum representing the Birth of Athena (B 147). Although the subjects (exclusive of those on the cover) are only two in number, the minuteness of treatment in detail and the richness of the composition show that it belongs to the same school.

In regard to technique, two points distinguish Athenian vases at all periods above other fabrics. Firstly, the admirable clay, traditionally obtained from Cape Kolias in Attica, and mingled with red ochre (rubrica) in order to produce its ruddy hue; this clay was eminently suited for taking a glaze, which was of course an essential preliminary for painting the surface. Next, the black varnish, with its exquisitely lustrous sheen, which was brought to a pitch of perfection in the subsequent period, and always affords such an admirable counterfoil to the red of the clay, though it has not been altogether popular with the modern photographer, owing to its reflecting qualities.

As regards the figures, they were seldom left entirely black, though black is at all times their prevalent aspect. The accessory whites and purples are used in varying degrees at different times, and it may be laid down as a general rule that purple is more affected on the earlier vases, white on the later. A like principle obtains with the accessories on red-figured vases. In the later examples, moreover, they are much more sparingly used, perhaps owing to the influence of the new technique, and by the end of the sixth century they disappear altogether. The more careful artists pay greater attention to the use of incised lines, and prefer to produce effects of richness and delicacy by elaboration of details and patterns in this manner.

At first there is a tendency to use purple in large masses, and even for the flesh of men; but it is generally employed for folds or portions of drapery, and for throwing up different parts of animals’ figures, or of the decorative patterns, such as palmettes and lotos-buds. White is employed for the hair of old men, for rocks and details of buildings, for the long garment worn by charioteers, and above all for the flesh of women. The latter we have already seen (p. 317) to be an invention traditionally attributed to Eumaros, who probably lived about the middle of this century; but whether it was first introduced at Athens or Corinth is uncertain.

Throughout the period there is a steady advance in drawing, but more in the direction of carefulness and refinement than in accuracy and truthfulness to nature; that is to say, that it always remains conventional. We shall see later that, even after the red-figured style came in, a certain archaic stiffness still prevailed for a time, both in the old and new methods. On the other hand, there is a degenerate class of black-figured vases, found chiefly on Greek sites, in which the drawing is free almost to carelessness, and it is clear that these illustrate the last efforts of the black-figured method in Greece in the fifth century; but the vases are all rough and hasty productions, altogether devoid of merit or interest.

The treatment of drapery may generally be regarded as a fair indication of date. The chiton is at first straight, with rigid stripes or casual patches of purple; then patterns are incised or painted in white; the waist is usually very small, and often bound tightly with a broad girdle.^[1192] By degrees the lines indicating the folds of the skirt take an oblique direction, as if to indicate motion, while the himation or mantle—which is adopted in addition by the women to wear over the chiton—is made to fall in long formal folds with diagonal edges, known as πτέρυγες. It is curious that the more advanced style of drapery is usually found on the red-bodied amphorae, the older types on the black-bodied. In the hydriae, which preserve the panel form of decoration throughout, a progress is visible from the most rigid severity to comparative freedom.

The shapes most frequently employed by Athenian potters are very limited in number—as, for instance, when compared with the Corinthian and other earlier fabrics. The really popular forms are limited to five: the amphora, hydria, kylix, oinochoe, and lekythos. Besides these we find the krater (usually with columnar handles), the deinos, the skyphos or kotyle (with its variant the mastos), the kyathos, the pyxis, and the pinax, and occasionally also the alabastron; but these are practically all. Some of these remain constant throughout, but others in their form and system of decoration present interesting varieties of development. In all cases there is an evident aim at improving upon the somewhat inartistic Corinthian forms, in the direction of grace, lightness, and architectonic symmetry.

The different types of Attic amphora have been described elsewhere (p. 160), but may be briefly recapitulated here.

The hydria, oinochoe, and krater almost universally adhere to the panel form of decoration, but the lekythos is red-bodied. In none of these is there much change visible, except in the later hydriae, some of which assume the curvilinear form of the R.F. “kalpis” (see p. 166). The evolution of the kylix is, however, of considerable interest, especially in view of its subsequent importance.

Before the sixth century this form was unknown at Athens, its nearest equivalent being the skyphos, or deep two-handled bowl with low base. But in course of time two forms of the kylix make their appearance, one apparently earlier than the other, and probably derived from a Corinthian prototype. At Corinth the kylix took the form of a large shallow bowl, with bulging outline and flat lip, on a very low foot. This type was also known in Ionia, as at Samos and Naukratis. It was usually decorated with friezes, internal or external, sometimes with a Gorgon’s head in the centre. The Athenians adopted this form, but raised it on a high stem, proportionately reducing its diameter (p. 190). At the same time they greatly reduced the surface available for decoration, either covering the whole with black varnish, except a narrow red band on the exterior, or else leaving the whole of the exterior red, but confining the figures strictly to the upper part. This became a very favourite fashion, and in course of time a school of painters arose whose practice was either to paint a row of diminutive figures (or even a single figure, as Fig. 96) on the upper band and sign their names below, or else to leave the cup quite plain except for the signature on one side and a motto on the other, such as χαῖρε, καὶ πίει εὖ, “Hail, and drink deep!”

These artists are known as the minor or miniature painters, and among them are found the names of Archikles and Glaukytes, Eucheiros, Hermogenes, Tleson, and Xenokles. At first they preferred not to decorate the interior, but then a small medallion with a figure of an animal or monster, such as a Sphinx, is introduced. Interior designs, however, were not at any time popular in this style.

The second type of kylix is purely Ionic in origin (see above, p. 357). It is distinguished from the others by the absence of a lip, by its low, thick foot, and by the greater width and shallowness of the bowl (p. 191). With a very slight modification it obtains throughout the red-figure period. Its form is clearly derived from the libation-bowl, or phiale, with the addition of foot and handles; and it appears first in Ionia in the large cups ornamented with eyes, the best of which is the Phineus cup in Würzburg (see p. 357). The Cyrenaic cup (see p. 341) seems to be half-way between the two types, having a high stem and a very slight marking off of the lip.

The introduction of this form into Attica was apparently due to Exekias, who belongs to the middle of the B.F. period, and has left a very fine specimen, decorated with the Ionic eyes and a beautiful interior design of Dionysos sailing over the sea (see p. 381). They are invariably red-bodied externally, and, in contradistinction to the other form, decorated all over, inside and out. Some of the larger varieties have an inner frieze surrounding the medallion^[1193]; but in many of the smaller examples the practice is to paint a Gorgon’s face in the interior, leaving the rest black. On the exterior, not only are the Ionic eyes generally to be seen, but also the whole scene is filled in with a background of interlacing branches or foliage—a common characteristic of later B.F. vases, and supposed to be also Ionic in its origin.

From the shapes we pass to the decorative patterns on Athenian vases, which form a link with the important question of subjects. As the methods of disposing the main designs became fixed, so did the scheme of subsidiary decoration, until it almost became stereotyped. Thus on the neck of an amphora there is always a pattern of double palmettes and lotos-buds (see Chapter XVI.), round the foot always rays or pointed leaves shooting upwards. The former seems to have been a Corinthian, or perhaps Chalcidian, invention; the latter is Ionic, and is found as early as the Rhodian vases. On the shoulder of the red-bodied amphorae is a “tongue”-pattern bordering the field of design above, and below the field are rows of maeander-pattern and lotos-buds, sometimes repeated. The characteristic ornament of this class is, however, the arrangement of palmettes and lotos-buds under the handles, which is often very delicate and artistically conceived. A variation is found in the works of Exekias, who replaces it by an elaborate system of spirals—a pattern which, as we have seen, descended from Mycenaean art, by way of the Melian amphorae, to Athens. In the panel-amphorae the only ornaments besides those of the neck and foot are those bordering the panels, usually along the top only, and, in the case of those with large flanged handles, on that part of the vase also. In the former case a band of lotos-buds, sometimes alternating with palmettes, is most commonly found; in the latter, rows of ivy-leaves or rosettes occur on the sides of the handles, and a palmette at the point of junction with the vase.^[1194]

In the hydriae the ornamentation consists of rays round the foot, with tongue-pattern on the top of the shoulder and round the handles; to this are added bands of ornament down the sides and along the bottom of the panel on the body. For the sides the favourite pattern is an ivy-wreath; but network is also used, and, on the inferior varieties, plain dots. Along the bottom the favourite device is a scroll of palmettes, often very artistic in character, the place of which is sometimes taken by a frieze of animals.

The same decorative principles are seen in the other shapes, but in a more limited degree. The ornament on a kylix is almost confined to palmettes springing from each side of the handles; but the interior designs are sometimes surrounded with tongue-pattern. The panels on the oinochoae are often bordered with ivy, network, or dots, as on the hydriae; on the lekythos the ornament is confined to a row of lotos-buds or palmettes on the shoulder.

Many vases of the B.F. period are decorated solely with these patterns; but these are usually small and insignificant specimens, with a band of palmettes or other pattern carelessly painted, perhaps used for the tomb by those who could not afford more elaborate specimens. In the tombs of Rhodes and Cyprus small amphorae and lekythi are often found, the bodies of which are covered with a plain network pattern in black on a red or white ground.^[1195] Others, again, seem to have been executed with great care, and there is a beautiful example from Vulci in the British Museum—a jug with a frieze of palmettes and scrolls on a white ground (B 632).

To treat of the subjects depicted on Athenian black-figured vases within a reasonable compass is not only well-nigh impossible, but unnecessary, since it would practically be to traverse the ground covered in another part of this work. There are, however, some general considerations which must not be passed over. While we bear in mind that they are as comprehensive in their character as those on any other class of Greek vases, it may not be amiss to point out in what respects they vary, for instance, from the red-figured Athenian vases or from those of the decadence.

The main point of difference is that in B.F. vases the mythological element on the whole predominates, whereas in the later periods it is fully counterbalanced, if not outweighed, by the preponderance of subjects from daily life. The Attic ephebos has not yet attained to the height of popularity which he reaches on the red-figure kylikes of Euphronios and Duris, and the softer side of Greek life, the life of the women’s quarters, or the sentimental scenes of courting which begin to prevail towards the end of the fifth century, are the products of a later development of social conditions. Religion, it is true, does not maintain on the vases the overwhelming importance that it does in other branches of art, except in a few classes relating to certain cults; nor has the cult of the dead as yet found general expression. To what, then, do we owe the preference for scenes from heroic legend, and the myths relating to the gods? It is, perhaps, largely due to the extreme conventionality of Greek art in the sixth century, which embodies its conceptions in a series of fixed types, which the artist repeats again and again from sheer inability to strike out a new line for himself. But with the general and rapid advance of artistic conception and technical power at the beginning of the fifth century, the change at once becomes apparent,—not, be it noted, with the beginning of the red-figure style, which for a time preserves most of the characteristics of its predecessor; but with the ripening of the powers of a Euphronios and a Brygos, who paved the way for the greater freedom and variety of conception exhibited in the highest products of fifth-century vase-painting. At the same time an ethical change is to be observed, especially in the position now occupied by two deities who are entirely absent from the B.F. vases—the god of love (Eros), and the goddess of victory (Nike). To the popularising of these two conceptions is mainly due the preponderance of the sentimental and athletic elements of the subsequent age.

To return to the black-figured vases, we must now devote a few words to the consideration of the feature to which allusion has just been made, namely, the conventionalised types and schemes of composition in which the various myths and other themes are portrayed. Roughly speaking, they fall into three classes: (1) subjects represented by one single and constant type^[1196]; (2) subjects represented by two or more distinct types^[1197]; (3) subjects which fall into two or more episodes, each represented by a different type.^[1198]

The question of the origin of these types is a difficult one to answer. They appear to have sprung, like the fully-armed Athena from the head of Zeus, in a matured form from the brain of the Athenian artist. It is, however, possible that the genius of some school of artists, such as those who conceived the decoration of the chest of Kypselos or the throne at Amyklae, may have influenced the vase-painters to a great extent. We have already seen how closely the scenes on some later Corinthian vases adhere to the description of Kypselos' chest. It is also a curious fact that the simpler form of a type is not necessarily the older. Some early types are of a quite complicated or elaborate nature; and the only variation apparent in a particular type is that of the number of bystanders watching the event. This, again, is due to an accidental cause—namely, the surface available for the painter, who, perhaps unconsciously, took the architectural sculptures of a temple for his model, and where his space resembled that of a metope (as in the panel-vases) reduced the number of his figures to a minimum, or where it took the form of a frieze filled in the space with a convenient number of spectators, the original “type” being preserved as a constant quantity in either case.

A question which has always presented great difficulties to students of vase-paintings is one that to a certain degree arises at all periods, but more especially in the one under discussion—namely, the difficulty of deciding whether certain subjects have a mythological meaning or not. The difficulty is, of course, in the first instance, due to the type-system. If the artist wished to depict a marriage procession in daily life, he instinctively had recourse to a familiar scheme for the purpose—namely, the “chariot-procession” type consecrated to the marriage of Zeus and Hera and similar Olympian triumphs. Or, again, scenes of warriors departing to battle or engaged in the fray would naturally be copied from such familiar types as that of Hector parting from his wife and child, or the fight of Achilles and Memnon over the body of Antilochos. Even inscriptions do not lend the aid that might be expected, as in some cases they are wrongly applied, or the names convey no meaning (as on the Corinthian vases, see pp. 315, 318); and it is probable that in many cases the intention was just to produce a sort of parable or idealised picture of events of ordinary life, in order to give more interest to a theme.^[1199]

Much of the interest of Athenian vases is derived from the inscriptions found upon them. These, which will be more fully dealt with elsewhere (Chapter XVII.), fall into three main classes—artists’ signatures, names with καλός, and descriptive names referring to the designs. On the last-named head no more need now be said; the second is more appropriately dealt with in the next chapter^[1200]—although not a few καλός-names are found on B.F. vases; and it only remains therefore to treat of the artists whose signatures have come down to us.^[1201]

We have already met with a few signed vases, among those of Corinth and Boeotia, of which the earliest go back to the beginning of the seventh century. Those of undoubtedly Attic origin fall into three or four main groups, the representative names in which may here be given.^[1202]

(1) Early artists:

Klitias and Ergotimos, Taleides, Sophilos, Oikopheles.

(2) Middle period:

Amasis, Exekias, Kolchos, Nearchos, Timagoras, Tychios.

(3) Minor artists, who painted kylikes almost exclusively:

Archikles, Eucheiros, Glaukytes, Hermogenes, Phrynos, Tleson, Xenokles, Sakonides.

(4) Later artists, combining B.F. and R.F. methods, or painting in transitional style:

Andokides, Charinos, Nikosthenes, Pamphaios, Hischylos and Epiktetos, Pasiades.

Kittos, who painted in black figures a Panathenaic amphora of the later class (see p. 391), belongs to the middle of the fourth century.

Most of these artists use the formula ἐποίησε,^[1203] implying that the same man both made and painted the vase; but Exekias in two cases (see below) says ἔγραψε κἀποίησε. The François vase, as we have seen, records the names both of painter and artist. Some of these painters give the name of their father, and thus we learn that Eucheiros (Class 3) was the son of Ergotimos (Class 1), Tleson (Class 3) the son of Nearchos (Class 2). The names Andokides and Nearchos are found among the dedications on the Athenian Acropolis. We now proceed to speak of these artists in detail.

In Class 1 Sophilos appears as the maker of a vase of which fragments were found on the Athenian Acropolis.^[1204] In style it closely resembles the François vase, and its subject also appears to have been akin—the marriage of Peleus and Thetis—to judge from the figures of Horae still visible. Taleides, whose work is of early character, painted an amphora representing Theseus slaying the Minotaur and two men weighing goods in a balance.^[1205] Ergotimos, besides the François vase, signed a kylix found in Aegina, and now in Berlin,^[1206] with interior and exterior subjects.

In the next group are two very interesting names, those of Amasis and Exekias, and both demand special attention, the latter for the excellence of his work, the former as connected with a special branch of Attic B.F. vases, which must be treated by themselves. The vases of Exekias include four amphorae, four cups (see Fig. 96), and two fragments, together with a few unsigned vases which for various reasons may be attributed to him.^[1207] The finest of his works is an amphora in the Vatican,^[1208] on one side of which are Ajax and Achilles playing draughts, the one calling out ΤΕΣΑΡΑ “four!” the other ΤΡΙΑ “three!”^[1209] On the reverse are the Dioskuri, with Tyndareus and Leda. Besides the signature in iambic form

the vase is inscribed with the καλός-name Onetorides. The others are in the British Museum (B 210), the Louvre (F 53), and Berlin (1720) respectively, and are all painted with mythological subjects. A fragment of a deinos^[1210] is interesting, as having, besides the signature, an iambic line in the alphabet of Sikyon (see 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.