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.

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.

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]

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 Chapter XIV.).^[1235]

A curious group of B.F. vases found exclusively in Italy, and belonging apparently to the middle of the sixth century, is marked by the extremes to which the mannerisms of the artists Exekias and Amasis are carried. They are without exception amphorae, and so similar in style that they must all have been produced by one workshop, if not one hand. In spite of the excellence of technique and careful drawing which they exhibit, showing a really advanced stage of B.F. vase-painting, they are lifeless and monotonous almost to grotesqueness. Karo, in publishing the series,^[1236] reckons forty-four in all, and points out the various Ionian peculiarities they present, which mark them either as an offshoot of the school of Amasis or a parallel development. Originally known as “Tyrrhenian,” from the form of the amphora (cf. p. 160), they are now generally spoken of as “affected amphorae,” in allusion to their peculiar and mannered style. An example is given on Plate XXIX.

The subjects are all dull repetitions of certain “types,” often without any apparent meaning, the personages being usually warriors, horsemen, or ordinary draped figures, young and old. Women are rarely seen; subjects of a Dionysiac character are occasionally found, but mythological scenes never, except that the “type” of the “Birth of Athena” is borrowed, copied, and divested of all meaning by omitting the figure of the goddess and depriving the others of their attributes.^[1237] In addition to this, Karo notes six prevailing motives: (1) two men in animated discourse, occurring about forty times; (2) a warrior arming, putting on a greave; (3) a warrior conversing with another man, with spectators; (4) two warriors in combat; (5) a young rider with second horse (Troilos?); (6) a reception of a guest, sometimes, but rather doubtfully, identified as Ikarios receiving Dionysos (see Chapter XIV.).

The complete absence of inscriptions is an Ionic feature as are the ornamental patterns, such as the tongue-pattern round the handles; the fondness for winged figures also points in this direction. The combination of good technique with feeble compositions points to a late and imitative stage, and is contrary to the Attic tendency to prefer new ideas and new subjects to a high standard of technique. Among other characteristic details we may note the tendency to give the human figures tapering extremities, common to all archaic art, but here greatly exaggerated; also the elaborate ornamentation of the draperies with purple and white flowers or rosettes.

The Panathenaic amphorae, of which some mention has already been made elsewhere (pp. 48, 132), form one of the most interesting groups of black-figured vases.^[1238] The Panathenaic games, which were celebrated in the third year of each Olympiad, were traditionally attributed to Theseus, but at any rate were reconstituted by Peisistratos about 566 B.C., when rhapsodic contests were introduced. To these musical contests with flute and lyre were added in 456 by Pericles. The prizes were, as we know from Pindar, painted amphorae containing olive oil, and there is an interesting inscription^[1239] which gives the number assigned as prizes for each contest. Thus, for the pentathlon, the first prize was 40 amphorae, the second 8; for the chariot-race, the first 104, the second 40; for the foot-race, the first 50 to 60, the second 10 to 12.^[1240] That these vases were greatly valued and buried in tombs we know from the number found under such circumstances. About 130 in all are in existence.

The shape of the sixth-century amphora is peculiar, but not exclusively used for this class^[1241]; in height they vary from twenty-five inches to about eight inches. Towards the end of the century, and during the fifth, other forms were sometimes employed, that of the red-bodied amphora and even the “Nolan” being found. In the fourth century a great change took place, the height being greatly increased and the body becoming proportionately slim; the form exactly resembles that of the contemporary Apulian sepulchral amphorae (Fig. 30, p. 162), with the addition of a conical cover. After the end of the fourth century they appear to have been made only of metal, but that they continued to be made we know both from literature and monuments, such as the Athenian coins.

The designs are always in panels, the obverse representing the goddess to whom the games were sacred, in her character of Athena Promachos; the reverse, the contest in which the prize was won (see Plates XXXIII.-IV.). Athena is represented standing to the left, with crested helmet, spear raised aloft in right hand, and shield on left arm, adorned with an emblematic device; her drapery is usually much ornamented. Except in the earliest examples there is a Doric column on either side of her, surmounted by a cock, as the bird sacred to Agon, the god of athletic contests; sometimes in place of it a Sphinx, Siren, panther, or vase. In the fourth century we sometimes find a figure of Nike or Triptolemos in his car surmounting the columns. Down the side of the left-hand column is usually placed the inscription (always preserving an archaic form): ΤΟΝ Α[Θ]ΕΝΕ[Θ]ΕΝ Α[Θ]ΛΟΝ, τῶν Ἀθηνῆἄθεν ἄθλων, “(a prize) from the games at Athens.” On the earliest known, the Burgon amphora (B.M. B 130), the word ΕΜΙ is added. In the fourth century the inscription still reads down the side of the column, but the letters are placed parallel to it, not at right angles. Further, in this period it often becomes customary to add on the right-hand side the name of the archon in whose year of office the games were held, thus enabling us to date the vase exactly.^[1242] Of these, some ten examples are known, ranging from 367 to 313 B.C., the list being as follows:—

The contests represented include the pentathlon, chariot-race, foot-race, armed foot-race, torch-race, tilting on horseback, the παγκράτιον, and musical contests (see Chapter XV., § 4).

The black-figure method is preserved throughout, in spite of the development in drawing, that of the fourth-century vases being perfectly free. In the latter there is a lavish use of white and purple for details, especially on the figure of Athena; and Nike, when present at the contests, is usually painted white; but the tendency of later vases to neglect the reverse at the expense of the obverse in the matter of decoration is strongly manifested. The figure of Athena becomes greatly elongated, until her head is actually painted on the neck of the vase, and in all the vases after 336 B.C. she is turned to the right instead of the left. Two signatures of artists are found—Sikelos in the fifth century, Kittos in the fourth. There also exist some miniature fourth-century examples of these vases, the purpose of which is not obvious; on the reverse of one in the British Museum is represented a runner in the torch-race.^[1243]

A peculiar local development of the black-figure style is to be seen in the vases found on the site of the temple of the Kabeiri, near Thebes, in Boeotia. From the style of the painting, which is free and careless, they can hardly be earlier than the fifth century, and may be later, the old style being preserved, as in the Panathenaic amphorae, for religious reasons. The site was excavated in 1887–88, and yielded a large number of vases and fragments, together with Attic R.F. and plain black glazed wares. Of the local fabrics the majority are of a Dionysiac character, or have reference, more or less direct, to the cult of the Kabeiri; many bear dedicatory inscriptions to the presiding deities, such as τῷ Καβίρῳ or τῷ παιδὶ καὶ τῷ Καβίρῳ, etc.

The material is a reddish-yellow clay of good quality, on which the designs are painted in a pigment varying from yellow-brown to the deep lustrous black of the best Attic vases. Occasionally details in white or purple are added; incised lines are used only for inner markings as a rule. The shapes are confined almost entirely to one, a large deep bowl with two small ring-handles, to which are attached projections for the support of the fingers; it comes nearest to the pella described by Athenaeus (see p. 186). The decorative motives are simple—vine-wreaths, ivy-wreaths, myrtle and olive, and the wave-pattern; sometimes the reverse is only ornamented with a pattern of this kind.^[1244]

The subjects are interesting from the fact that they are an early instance (in vase-paintings) of intentional caricatures or grotesques; this is shown not only in the manner of treating the themes selected, but in the rude character of the drawing. Among those drawn from myth and legend may be mentioned Odysseus with Kirke (two instances) and traversing the sea on a raft; Peleus bringing the young Achilles to Cheiron (Fig. 98); Kephalos hunting a fox; and Bellerophon slaying the Chimaera. A favourite subject is that of Pigmies in combat with cranes. But the most interesting is one which represents the deity Kabeiros (answering to Dionysos) with his son (Pais, i.e. Iacchos) at a banquet, accompanied by three symbolical figures—Mitos, Pratolaos, and Krateia. Another fragment shows a train of worshippers approaching the Kabeiros, in the manner of the Asklepios reliefs.^[1245]

The transitional stage from black to red figures is illustrated by more than one class of vases. Those in which the two methods are united on one vase have been discussed elsewhere, in considering the characteristics of the artists who used both. But there is another class corresponding to neither method, and yet partaking of the character of both, in which the figures are painted in opaque red or white pigment laid directly on the surface of the vase, which is covered throughout with black varnish (Plate XXXV.). Inasmuch as the method of painting in colours is more suggestive of the B.F. vases, they are classed therewith in some collections, as in the British and Athens Museums; but since their appearance and style link them more closely with the R.F. period, they are found in others, as at Berlin, ranged with the latter class. In any case they form a distinct group, in which the earlier examples correspond more with the B.F., the later with the R.F., vases. They are undoubtedly of Athenian origin, but to what extent they affected the change from black to red figures is doubtful.

The practice of laying colours on the black varnish is, of course, one that was quite familiar to B.F. artists; the analogous procedure in the R.F. period was the laying of black pigment on the red glaze, as was necessarily done for details such as devices on shields. The transition was therefore easy in the case of a vase covered with black varnish, to painting the figures only in the opaque colours upon it, thereby enlarging the scope of the process. The incised lines in which the figure was necessarily sketched out before painting (and which frequently occur in this class) led the way to the process by which the R.F. artist engraved his design on the red clay before covering the rest of the vase with varnish. In the case of female figures it is obvious that this method was already practised, especially in scenes in which they appeared entirely nude, and the whole figure was painted white over the black silhouette, the black becoming the real accessory where it was required for the hair, etc.^[1246]

Dr. Six, who has studied this class, gives a list of about seventy examples,^[1247] including one signed by Nikosthenes (Plate XXXV., fig. 2 = F 114 in the Louvre) which has a figure of a woman painted in white each side, the style, be it noted, being purely black-figured. In later specimens the object seems to have been to imitate the appearance of the R.F. vases, and to paint the figures in a similar but opaque red colour instead of white.^[1248] Other examples again have figures only incised on the black, without any addition of colour.^[1249] In some of the earlier ones the use of black as an accessory^[1250] shows that the painter, so to speak, “thought” in the B.F. style, but used white for black and vice versa.

Most of the earlier examples have been found in Greece or Magna Graecia; they are usually of the lekythos form, which is always rare in Etruria. The later group chiefly consists of small bowls (phialae) of very negligent style, but some are of the typical R.F. forms, such as the “Nolan” amphora and the stamnos. A considerable number of fragments were found on the Acropolis of Athens, showing that even these late imitative specimens, in spite of their rude, careless execution, cannot be placed later than 480 B.C.

One of the most interesting examples is a fragment found on the Acropolis of Athens,^[1251] with an owl within an olive-wreath; it had been dedicated to Athena by a potter whose name is now lost. There is also a good series in the British Museum (B 681–700), including a lekythos with Odysseus carried under the ram, painted in polychrome.

Before embarking upon the history of the red-figured vases it may be well to endeavour to see what light the vase-paintings up to this point throw on the literary traditions preserved for us, chiefly by Pliny, in regard to early painting. There is, perhaps, no subject which that writer has treated with greater vagueness; and we are forced to the conclusion that he really knew nothing about it, and did not comprehend the meaning of the earlier writers from whom he borrowed.^[1252] Still, it may fairly be supposed that the names he mentions are those of real persons, even if his account of their achievements is vague or imaginary. There are also a few stray items of information given by Aristotle, Aelian, Strabo, and Athenagoras.

Pliny^[1253] begins by attributing to Corinth or Sikyon the discovery of the possibility of producing figures by outlining shadows, as in the story of Butades (p. 110). The next stage, he says, was to fill in the outlines with single colours, or monochrome. He next states that Philokles, an Egyptian,^[1254] and Kleanthes of Corinth “invented linear painting,” and that they were followed by Aridikes of Corinth and Telephanes of Sikyon, who, still without using any colours, introduced inner markings and details,^[1255] and inscribed names over their figures. Ekphantos of Corinth introduced the use of a red wash, employing a pigment made from pounded pottery (testa trita),^[1256] which may represent the purple so lavishly employed on Corinthian vases. A later development was that of monochrome painting—i.e. the use of a single flat body-colour—introduced by Hygiainon, Deinias, and Charmadas.

Aristotle, on the other hand, speaks of Eucheiros of Corinth as the “inventor of painting.” The name reminds us of the tradition of Demaratos, who took with him from Corinth to Etruria a craftsman of that name. It is also interesting to note that the name is borne by an Athenian kylix-painter (see above, p. 384), the son of Ergotimos, who made the François vase. Possibly he may have been the grandson of the Corinthian artist.

Strabo (viii. 343) and Athenaeus (viii. 346 C) mention a picture by Kleanthes (see above) which represented the Birth of Athena,^[1257] and can hardly have been later than the seventh century—a period to which such evidence as we have would allot the series of artists already named.

It must be borne in mind that the names of these early artists are those of draughtsmen, not of painters. Even in the time of Polygnotos drawing was the chief aim of all artists—as the red-figured vases amply testify—and painting, as we regard the art, only came into existence after the middle of the fifth century. The development from liniarem, or “outline-drawing,” to monochrome at first sight presents a difficulty, as it seems to be opposed to the evolution of vase-painting, which is from silhouette (as in the Dipylon ware) to outlines (as in the Ionic vases). But even if it is not always intelligible, we can still observe a distinct continuity in Pliny’s account.^[1258]

After Ekphantos had introduced the filling-in of outlines with red washes, and Hygiainon and his confrères had continued painting with a single colour,^[1259] a step further was made by Eumaros of Athens, who distinguished the sexes and “introduced all kinds of new subjects.” Here we may clearly discern the introduction of white in the later Corinthian and early Attic wares for female figures, and the growth of mythological and genre subjects on the vases of the time.^[1260] His innovations of technique and subject may therefore be fairly regarded as coincident with the great advance in vase-painting made at Athens under Peisistratos and reacting upon Corinth. It is interesting to note that the name of Eumaros occurs on a marble base found on the Acropolis at Athens; and if this can be the painter, his date would be fixed about 590–570 B.C.^[1261]

In any case one thing is certain—that painting had not yet developed into anything like a high art. It was still purely decorative, and the few early paintings of which we hear, such as those of Bularchos (p. 361) and Kleanthes, were not beyond the level of the Clazomenae sarcophagi or the François vase in merit. We probably gain the best idea of painting which was not merely decorative from the Corinthian pinakes (p. 316) and the Acropolis warrior-tablet,^[1262] especially as they are painted on the white slip or λεύκωμα, which we know to have been favoured by early Greek painters.^[1263]

The relation of Pliny’s next artist, Kimon of Kleonae, and of his improvements to the work of the vase-painters, has been much discussed by writers on the red-figured vases; and they have not been by any means unanimous in their conclusions, either as to the nature of his “inventions” or as to the time at which their influence made itself felt. They are described by Pliny in the following words: “Cimon of Cleonae improved upon the inventions of Eumarus. He invented catagrapha—that is, oblique images—and varied positions of the features, looking back or up or down. He distinguished limbs from joints, emphasised the veins, and further reproduced folds and hollows in the drapery.”^[1264]

The crux of this passage is of course the word catagrapha, with Pliny’s Latin equivalent, obliquas imagines. At first sight it would seem that the Latin rendering of the word connected it with the rendering of the face in a new way, i.e. in three-quarter aspect instead of the old profile of the silhouettes. But this was not introduced into vase-painting until quite a late period^[1265]; it is found, for instance, on the Meidias vase about 440 B.C., and is certainly not earlier than the time of Euphronios, whereas Kimon appears to have lived about 540–490 B.C.^[1266] Moreover, there seems to be some antithesis between the imagines and voltus—i.e. varios formare voltus is not an explanation of the imagines—and, on the whole, it seems more natural to take the first word as a general term for figures. Obliquas imagines, then, would obviously imply some kind of perspective, which, when applied to the human figure, indicates foreshortening.

Now, this advance in drawing is first found in the earlier work of Euphronios, i.e. about 500–490 B.C., though traces of it are to be seen in the later work of the Epictetan cycle. It will be noted in the next chapter that Epiktetos and his contemporaries are still in the trammels of the old method. Many of these vases even exhibit traces of a decadent style, with rough and carelessly drawn figures. As Hartwig has well pointed out, the real division of style comes, not before Epiktetos, but between him and Euphronios. The Epictetan cycle is transitional, and a time of preparation, firstly in the change of technique, secondly in the evolution of cup-decoration, thirdly in the discovery of new motives and extending the scope of subjects. The new birth is seen in the form of increased naturalism, and is parallel to the development of sculpture under Pythagoras and Myron, who, like Kimon, “gave prominence to sinews and veins.” We may therefore sum up with Studniczka and Hartwig by saying that the reforms of Kimon, which first manifest themselves in Euphronios and his contemporaries about 500 B.C., imply a new theoretical knowledge of linear perspective, which in practice displays itself in a correct rendering of foreshortening.^[1267] In minor details the same advance is at this time apparent, in the treatment of the eye, which now begins to be rendered with some approach to truth, and in the accurate and detailed rendering of muscles and anatomy, and of folds of drapery. These are precisely the points in which Pliny regards Kimon as having so greatly advanced his art, which, as Aelian tells us, he “helped out of leading-strings.”^[1268]

The first painter in polychrome was Panaenos, who also introduced portraiture, but must still be regarded as a draughtsman only; and, finally, Polygnotos, by such innovations as giving expression to faces, and rendering transparent draperies, gave the first real advance to the art. So far Pliny on the beginnings of Greek painting; but its further developments, and more particularly the relation of Polygnotos to the fifth-century vase-paintings, must be more fully dealt with in a succeeding section.