Achilles Painter
The Achilles Painter was a prominent Athenian vase painter active during the Classical period, renowned for his exceptional artistry and technical skill. Named after a depiction of Achilles on an amphora housed in the Vatican Museums, he is credited with over 230 attributed works, primarily utilizing red-figure and white-ground techniques, and occasionally black-figure for special Panathenaic amphoras. His most celebrated pieces are the delicate white-ground lekythoi, which often portray intimate scenes of relationships, such as a mistress and maid or mourners at a tomb.
The Achilles Painter's drawing style is noted for its fine quality and serenity, reflecting the noble aesthetics of contemporary sculpture, particularly those of the Parthenon. His repertoire included a wide range of subjects, from deities to everyday mortals, showcasing his versatility. His works were highly valued and found not only in Athens but also in locations as diverse as Etruria, Sicily, Egypt, and Turkey, indicating his influence beyond his native region. The standards he set for white-ground lekythoi were carried on by his students, such as the Phiale Painter, ensuring his legacy in ancient Greek pottery continued well into the later fifth century BCE.
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Achilles Painter
Related civilization: Classical Greece
Major role/position: Artist
Life
Named after the figure of Achilles on an amphora, or wine jar, in the Vatican Museums, the Achilles Painter (uh-KIHL-EEZ PAYN-tuhr) was one of the finest Athenian vase painters of the Classical period. More than 230 vases of various shapes, large and small, have been attributed to him. A pupil of the Berlin Painter, the Achilles Painter worked mainly in the red-figure and white-ground techniques but occasionally in black-figure for Panathenaic amphoras. His most beautiful vases are white-ground lekythoi, or oil jugs, decorated in delicate colors on a white background, often with a mistress and maid or two mourners at a tomb.
The drawing style of the Achilles Painter is exceptionally fine, with a beautiful quality of line. His figures tend to be serene and noble, similar to the contemporary sculptures of the Parthenon. The artist favored a variety of figure types, including deities, heroes, and mortals. Once, on a lekythos in Lugano, he represented an exquisite scene of two Muses on Mount Helicon.
Apparently the Achilles Painter’s vases were prized commodities, for they have turned up not only in Athens and nearby Eretria, but as far afield as Etruria, Sicily, Egypt, and Turkey.
Influence
The Achilles Painter set the standard of excellence for white-ground lekythoi. His pupils, such as the Phiale Painter, continued his style into the later fifth century b.c.e.
Bibliography
Beazley, J. D. Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1963.
Beazley, J. D. Paralipomena. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1971.
Boardman, John. Athenian Red Figure Vases: The Classical Period. London: Thames and Hudson, 1989.
Kurtz, Donna Carol. Athenian White Lekythoi: Patterns and Painters. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1975.