Transcript Attic protogeometric cup late c11th

The Development of Greek
Vase Decoration
The PROTOGEOMETRIC style
This first Greek style of pottery decoration has
been called the Geometric Style because the
earliest examples show designs based on
circles, arcs, triangles, and wavy lines. The
earliest stage of simple geometric patterns is
often called Early or "Proto"-Geometric and
signals the reawakening of technical proficiency
and a spirit of creativity amongst the Hellenic
communities.
Attic protogeometric cup late C11th
Protogeometric
amphora, late
C10th
The GEOMETRIC style
By about 900BC the Geometric style of
decoration had become much more refined. The
shapes are now more slender and the contours
taut. Black bands increasingly dominate the
surface but also frame alternate buff coloured
areas crowded with rich and carefully drawn
linear patterns. These patterns and motifs are
more complex than the Proto-Geometric style
and the overall effect is now much richer.
Geometric bellyhandled amphora,
"Athens 804" with
prothesis scene, mid8th c., 1.55 m high
Dipylon
Amphora
(Geometric
style), Athens,
c. 750 B.C.
Diplyon Vase (8th Century BC)
The ORIENTALISING style
Much of the “Orientalising” style decoration is
derived from Minoan and Egyptian decoration.
Greek trade with the older cultures - coastal
cities in Syria, Palestine and Egypt - was now
considerable. They were quickly adapting their
simple geometric patterns on their export pottery
to the very different Eastern designs. This soon
led to a growing Eastern influence on Greek
pottery design and painting.
Protocorinthian
olpe, "Chigi
vase" mid-C7th,
found near Veii,
Etruria
The PROTOATTIC style
In the earlier examples of Attic pottery from the
late 8th century onwards figure painting in Attica
developed out of geometric symbols. Slowly the
figure painting became more naturalistic and
concerned with all things Greek rather than
"Oriental". By the beginning of the 6th century
the potteries of Athens were producing a range
of decorated pots with increasingly complex and
detailed narrative groups - funeral scenes, sea
battles, dances, boxing matches, and exploits of
popular heroes.
Protoattic
funerary
amphora, midC7th, 1.44 m
high, found at
Eleusis
Protoattic
amphora by
the
Polyphemos
Painter, 670660 BC
ATTIC BLACK-FIGURE
DECORATION
Athenian painters copied this black-figure
style from Corinth but, instead of the
Oriental monsters, animals and birds
motifs, preferred to develop further their
own narrative style using Greek Gods,
Heroes and monsters. The superior quality
of their clay, pigment, and decoration and
firing techniques quickly enabled the
Athenian artists to overtake those of
Corinth.
Early Attic
Black-figure
jug, painted
in black,
purple and
white on
orange clay,
c. 550 BC
Black-figure vase decorating
• Originated in Corinth in C7th BC
• Athenian painters copied the technique,
but changed the subject matter to Greek
Gods, heroes and monsters.
• By c.600 BC Athens was the centre of
black-figure vase pottery, and the Attic
black-figure vases were of the highest
quality
Development of the technique
• Attic vases continued the Corinthian
tradition of including animals until c.550
BC, but they increasingly showed human
figures
• Vases increasingly showed a narrative – a
story line, often based on mythology and
Greek heroes
• Vases still often contained patterns, but
usually now as borders around the action
– potters were separating vase from
painting
Black-figure decorating: the process
• The rough basic
hollow shape was
thrown on a potter's
wheel
• When leather-hard, it
was turned
horizontally on a
lathe (exactly like
wood turning) to the
required form.
When the pot had reached the
desired shape
• Vase was burnished (rubbed and
smoothed with stone or wood)
• Handles were moulded separately and
attached using slip
• A wash of yellow ochreous clay might
have been brushed on to produce a richer
terracotta colour
• The outlines of the decoration were drawn
in charcoal, and then completely filled in
with black slip.
SLIP
• Fine clay, usually the same kind as the
rest of the vase, repeatedly mixed with
water in order to separate the different
size particles. Finally, the watery-clay is
left to evaporate, then colours may be
added. Urine is believed to have been
mixed in to enhance the brushing quality
of the slip.
• Used to colour the vases and stick pieces
together
Details
• A sharp instrument was used to cut
through the top layer of black slip to reveal
the lighter, red-coloured clay beneath
• Patterns and details were created in this
way.
When the design was complete,
the vase was fired.
Firing pots in Ancient Greece
Cretan updraft kiln, c.2000 BC – 2000 AD
One of the types of kiln the Greeks were using in the 5th century
BC. This diagramatic slip drawing on a fragment of greek pottery
shows that these potters used round updraft kilns with removable
doors for placing and retrieving pots from the kiln. The whole
structure is now permanent with a small chimney at the top.
By the 5th Century BC.,
potters had achieved a
considerable control over
their firings through the
development of these
enclosed updraft kilns:
– Pots separated from the
fire,
– A permanent chamber
with a door or bricked up
opening,
– a short chimney with
provision for controlling
the draft on atmosphere
of the kiln using a tile,
– or by blocking or
reducing firemouth
opening.
FIRING
Timing was crucial!
The process was always the same:
Stage 1
Dry wood fire is
built, and fed
with oxygen
until it reaches
800ºC
In this oxidising
atmosphere, the
vase turns red and
glows with heat
Stage 2
Green wood and damp
material was added to make
the fire smoke, and the
vents were closed.
This reduced the
atmosphere inside the kiln.
The kiln is then heated up
to 950ºC, before being
allowed to cool again.
The whole vase is now
black in colour.
Stage 3
The vents were opened
again, and the temperature
rose, creating an oxidising
atmosphere.
The parts of the vase
covered with slip remained
glossy black in colour.
The parts not covered in
slip absorb oxygen and
turn red again.
The kiln is allowed to cool
again and the vase is
finished.
Innovations
• Artists began to experiment with different
ways of drawing the human form.
• Fore-shortening and torsion were used to
show human figures in different poses.
Athenian Jar
from
Vulci(Etruria)
ca.540-530BC
Other developments:
• Figures became more convincing and
realistic from c.550 BC
Detail from Francois Vase, 570 BC
Athenian Jar from Vulci(Etruria) ca.540-530BC
• Artists experimented with showing the
human figure in different poses.
Exekias Amphora, 540-530 BC
• Artists began to
use a white slip
for women’s
flesh. Men’s
flesh remained
black.
Attic black figured Kylix 6th c. BC.
ATTIC RED-FIGURE
DECORATION
Red-figure pottery, invented at Athens
about 530 BC, is the reverse of the blackfigure style. In the black-figure style,
figures were painted in glossy black
pigment as silhouettes on the orange-red
surface of the vase; details were added
largely by incising.
Red-figure decoration
The inventor of the red-figure technique is
thought to have been an artist known as
the Andokides Painter, after the name of
the potter who made a number of his
vases. He was a pupil of Exekias in
Athens, so he was still influenced by the
black-figure technique.
Red-figure decoration
• Was produced in a very similar manner to
black-figure, but there were several
important differences:
– The outline of the images was drawn with a
syringe-like instrument. This raised the
surface of the decoration
– The vase was painted rather than the figures
– Dilute glaze was painted on top of the figures
to add more detail
The effects of these differences:
• Figures are lighter, slimmer and more
natural
• Drapery and anatomy lines can be painted
or piped on later, making them more
delicate and realistic
• Anatomy and facial expressions can be
shown more easily
• Because anatomy is shown more clearly,
there is no need for a different slip colour
to show female figures
Advantages of red-figure decoration
• A brush is more flexible than an incising
tool so a more flowing style is possible
• Thinner, flowing lines produce a 3-D
appearance: whereas black-figure vase
images are flat silhouettes, red-figure vase
images are rounded and suggest mass
• Use of dilute slips give a wider range of
colour lines
• Line drawing allows a more convincing
depiction of human poses and actions
A new innovation
At the same time that this new technique
gave artists more flexibility, they also
became interested in developing the
images they portrayed.
Vases therefore began to show the
“psychological moment” – the moment just
before or just after the action.
Red-figure
Attic Kylix
by the
Painter
Epiktetos
Andokides
Painter. From
a red-figure
amphora,
c.510 BC
WHITE-GROUND DECORATION
This last technique suggests that the
pottery decorators longed to have the
freedom to paint like mural painters on a
plaster surface.
White-ground ware technique
• Although it was used in Athens during the
C6th BC, it was not popular until the midC5th BC.
• Many artists did not use it at first because
the white slip was fragile. White-ground
vases were therefore not very practical for
everyday use
The white-ground process was
similar to the black- and red-figure
decoration process.
However, there were crucial differences:
• A white slip (containing no iron) was
painted onto the area to be decorated
• The scene was drawn on using red or
black slip. Again, a syringe-like instrument
would have been used.
• Dilute glaze was used to add lines for
detail
Then the vase was fired.
• After firing, more colours were added to
decorate the vase. Vegetable dyes would
have been used, and these were much
less durable. Consequently, these colours
have often worn off.
• Colours would have included:
– Yellow
– Red
– Grey
• Later white-ground ware would have used
a wider range of colours, and a wider use
of dilute glaze
• White-ground vases were usually used for
funerary ware. It was not handled much
and was made to be buried with the body,
so the durability of the decoration was less
important.
• The vases often showed calm, peaceful
scenes – decoration reflects vase’s use
Achilles Painter.
White-ground
lekythos. Muse on
Mount Helicon.
Circa 445 BC