Greek vase-painting (Griechische Vasenmalerei)Buschor, Ernst
History
Greek vase-painting (Griechische Vasenmalerei)
Buschor, Ernst
Vase-painting, Greek
manner of the Altenburg amphora (Fig. 63). The file principle, so potent
in the East Ionic animal frieze, strongly asserts itself in the dancing
maidens and the abandoned revellers: the oblique inclination forward,
which the Klazomenian painter often gives the intoxicated, and which is
very successfully preserved on an early Milesian relief in London,
emphasizes at the same time the decorative arrangement, and increases
the expressiveness, just as the eccentric movements of the dancers
equally well fill the space and mark the tone. For life, sensual and
everyday though often grotesque and brutal, is what these Ionian masters
give, even if they are only decorative artists or artizans, whatever it
may cost. So they succeed in nothing so well as women, satyrs and
animals. The maidens with their receding foreheads, almond-shaped and
often obliquely set eyes, and the little mouth somewhat drawn in below,
and the well-marked back contour, have an attractiveness even on the
most careless representations; the shaggy satyrs betray their equine
nature not merely in ear, tail and hoof; the robust strong-maned horses,
the female panthers with swelling breasts, the fighting cocks forgetting
their heraldic duties, all show nature very close at hand.
The history of this style, which must approximately extend over the
first half of the 6th century, can be to some extent followed. In the
beginning comes the conflict of the old Ionic and Western techniques,
the transition from the light slip to the reddish-yellow surface, and
the tendencies in ornamentation which still strongly remind one of
‘Fikellura.’ The silhouette style makes liberal use of white. Not only
with inherited aversion does it often replace incision by delicate lines
of paint, provide garments with white crosses, animals with white spots
and white belly-stripe, and ornaments with white details: in its earlier
period it also extends the white surfaces, which it still places on the
ground of the clay at times, from women and linen chitons to men, horses
and dogs, and becomes as parallel to the Corinthian style with this
contrast of colouring as with its wide-necked broad-bellied form of
amphora.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account