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GREEK CERAMICS. Ceramics (Greek keramike - pottery, from keramos - clay) - the name of any household or artistic products made from clay or mixtures containing clay, baked in a kiln or dried in the sun. Pottery making is a universal artistic craft. Despite the deep differences between the cultures of the ancient peoples who practiced it, the techniques and use of ceramics are remarkably similar. The pottery of the ancient Greeks, especially the Athenians, is one of the highest achievements of this art. Fortunately, Greek literature describes some details of the production of pottery, and extensive excavations and studies give a clear picture of the whole process.

Potters.

During the early Neolithic, each family made their own pottery. Like much of the domestic work done by women in primitive societies, pottery was most likely made by women as well; men were engaged in hunting and had to protect the tribe. With the advent of the potter's wheel and the improvement of the furnace, a specialist, a professional potter, began to do this work. There is no doubt that, as a result of the invention of the potter's wheel, the production of pottery became a masculine trade, since the use of the mechanism was usually considered not to be a woman's work.

The sizes of pottery workshops in Athens in antiquity were probably very different, as they are today. There were also tiny shops of poor or independent potters who worked together with an apprentice who turned the circle. Their work was many and varied: quarrying and refining clay, kneading it, shaping vessels on the potter's wheel, joining parts, turning vessels over and finishing molds, decorating vases, extracting wood or charcoal for the stove, firing the stove, and selling finished products. Successful owners recruited workers, apprentices and skilled artisans to their large workshop, and themselves acted as a senior master or controller. In Attica, some potters used up to a dozen workers, but the average workshop employed four to five people.

Sometimes the potter himself was engaged in painting vases, but usually these two professions were separated. A careful study of the shapes of the vases makes it possible to attribute groups of vessels similar to each other to the same potter. For example, the style and features of the pottery work of one master in the manufacture of lekythos (high cylindrical vases) make it possible to combine them into a group. However, this method of comparison does not make it possible to identify the same potter with the creator of the amphorae group (jugs with two handles). The study of the forms of the vessels indicates that for an anonymous artist called the Berlin vase painter, lekythos were created by at least three potters. It is proved that the ceramic workshop of Cahrillion made bowls for at least ten different artists, as well as the potter and painter Euphronius.

There was a tendency for the potter and the vase painter to work together. It remains unclear whether two potters could have been involved in the creation of one vase; perhaps one was molding the vase on a circle, while the other was engaged in the final finishing of the form. In rare cases, two painters could work on one vase. The reasons for such cooperation are unknown, but the fact itself is beyond doubt.

Signatures are found on some Greek vases. Sometimes it is the potter's signature followed by the word epoiesen meaning "made". This is how Euphronius signed his pottery. If the signature was applied by a painter, his name was accompanied by the word egrapsen, or “painted”, as did the vase painter Hermonax. Double signatures like: "Hieron did, Macron painted" are common. This type of signature indicates the sequential work of two masters and the same value of molding and painting. A well-known series of double signatures shows that the vase painter Olthos worked with at least four different potters, and Epictetus with at least six. Several vases are signed "So-and-so made and painted", emphasizing the dual profession of the same ceramist; one of these masters was Duris. Unfortunately, not all potters and vase painters always left signatures on their products. Many of the first-class masters never signed their works, and some did so only occasionally. An excellent painter could sign an inexpressive piece and leave a masterpiece unsigned. Therefore, the reason for signing the works remains unclear. It is believed that in some cases the signature may actually belong to the owner of the workshop in which the vessel was made.

Ultimately, it is the qualitative characteristics of craftsmanship that make it possible to accurately identify the unsigned works of potters and artists whose names we do not know. Researchers and collectors give these anonymous masters conventional names for ease of classification. Thus, a certain group consists of the works of the artist, called the Berlin vase painter, since one of his main works is kept in the collection of the State Museums of Berlin. The names given to potters often indicate the style of their work. For example, the Master of Heavy Hydrias is so named because in his works there is no desire for a more subtle rhythmic balance of forms and outlines; they gravitate towards dense massive forms.

Vase shapes.

The purpose of the vase dictated its shape, which in turn determined the molding method. Nearly all Attic vases were made to contain the three different liquids most important to Greek life: wine, water, and olive oil. The most commonly required utensils for storing wine. For this purpose, the most common type of container was an amphora, a vase with two strong handles. Hydria, a large jug with three handles, was used to carry and store water. The Greeks rarely drank undiluted wine; usually it was mixed with water in a vase specially designed for this, called a krater. Drinking bowls make up a broad category, as The Greeks drank wine mixed with water from many different types of vessels. The most elegant and widespread was the kylix. A lekythos, a tall cylindrical vase with a narrow neck, cupped mouth and one handle, was commonly used for olive oil. The narrow neck made it possible to pour oil in a thin stream; the mouth had a sharp edge on the inside so that the oil would not drip when pouring.

During the 6th-4th centuries. BC. the forms of Attic vases evolved from heavy and solid to graceful, equally comfortable and beautiful, and then to too complex and refined. It is rather strange that the Greeks preferred to improve existing types, rather than look for new forms. It would seem that the constant repetition of standard types of dishes could lead to the mass production of products devoid of artistic merit. However, it was this relentless repetition of forms and the pursuit of perfection within the existing tradition that led to the development of such a remarkable style of Attic ceramics. The fact that these ceramics were intended for everyday use gave meaning and practicality to their forms. Thus, it was protected from becoming something unnecessary, from degenerating into empty trinkets.

Vessel manufacturing methods.

Nearly all Attic vases are made on the potter's wheel; the bodies of the vessels were placed on bases in the form of a cylinder or a circle. All vases, without exception, are symmetrical and balanced relative to the central axis, vertically stable due to a reliable base, have a mouth, and sometimes a lid. Smooth curves, comfortable handles and spacious mouths use the plasticity, elasticity and other natural features of Attic clay. Its fine-grained texture, viscosity and other working properties were reflected in the forms that potters could ultimately achieve precisely through the use of this clay.

The vases were molded on the potter's wheel by hand, using only a compass and ruler. There is no evidence of the use of a template for shaping vessels or for checking measurements of their graceful, fine proportions. There have been attempts to prove that these proportions are based on elaborate mathematical relationships. These ratios do exist, but they were apparently achieved only by the skill of the potter.

Some Attic vases of simpler forms, such as the skyphos and the pelika, were made on the potter's wheel from a single piece of clay and immediately finished. However, many other types of vessels, such as the kylix, lekythos, crater and hydria, were made in parts, which were then joined together with wet clay and finished on the potter's wheel. The place where the parts were joined usually depended on the type and shape of the vessel. In a kylix, for example, this is the point of connection between the shaft of the stem and the bowl proper; neck and body join in the crater. Changing the shape at these points helps to hide the joints. However, the body of a large hydria or crater could not be formed in one piece and had to be made piece by piece. The large bowl-shaped volume and the annular parts had to be connected into a continuous smooth surface, on which there was no place to hide the joint. Therefore, the finished solid parts were collected in their final form and left for a day in a humid place to protect them from drying out too quickly and cracking. Then they were covered with a damp clay coating, and the entire body of the vessel was finished and smoothed so skillfully that the joint was not visible.

Decor.

Attic ceramics of the classical era is divided into black-figure and red-figure. The older black-figure vase painting dates back to the end of the 7th century. BC. Around the beginning of the 5th c. BC. it was gradually superseded by red-figure pottery, but black-figure painting continued to be used to decorate Panathenaic vases at least as far back as the Hellenistic period.

On black-figure vases, the image was applied with black lacquer with a brush and represented only silhouettes; the details of the pattern were scratched or traced over the lacquer. Black-figure painting comes from primitive designs on vessels of an older geometric style; Classical black-figure pottery was immediately preceded by the Proto-Attic style with contour images. The black figures stand out in contrast against the red background of the clay from which the vase is made.

The red-figure technique gives the opposite impression of the effect of the black-figure technique. The images here are left unpainted and the background of the vase is black lacquered. Then the details of the images were made with thin relief lines. This gave the painting a more natural look than in the black-figure technique, since the images stood out in light (red) color against a black background. The relief line was created by squeezing the glaze out of a small tube. The earliest red-figure items date back to the thirties of the 6th century. BC.; they were produced until the end of the 4th century. BC. Throughout the 4th c. the style of painting and the quality of the products of the work gradually fell into decay, until finally the red-figure technique disappeared altogether.

The theme and style of Attic vase paintings evolved during the ninth and fourth centuries. BC. In the era of geometric style, which flourished in the 9th century. BC, decor prevailed, covering almost the entire vessel: chess patterns, meander, crosses, swastikas, dots, ribbons, hatching, etc. Stylized plant and animal motifs were rarely used. On large dipylon vases of the 8th c. BC, which were installed on the graves, more complex compositions were included in the ribbons of the ornament.

In the decoration of proto-Attic vases of the 7th c. BC. artists began to master mythological subjects. Most of the surface of the vase was devoted to images of monsters and heroes, and decorative patterns were used as scene frames.

Black-figure pottery, 6th c. BC. fully used the plots of the richest Greek mythology. Gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters were depicted in scenes from the life of the Olympians and episodes of the Trojan War. Decorative motifs were used sparingly to delimit scenes with figures painted in black lacquer. Gradually introduced plots from Everyday life ordinary people, such as a warrior arming himself for battle, or exercising in a gymnasium; such images began to supplant mythological ones.

In the 5th and 4th centuries. BC. this trend continued to develop in the decoration of red-figure vases. The image of a man became the main one, although some mythological subjects still continued to be used. Battles, feasts and competitions of athletes, ordinary people and their daily activities were depicted. Decorative motifs played a secondary role; palmettes, lotuses, meanders were commonly used to frame the design.

Varnish.

Once molded on the potter's wheel, the Greek vases were kept in a damp room until they were ready for decoration. The painting was applied to a hardened semi-dry surface. When the vases were completely dry, they were fired, but not in one go. The roasting process was divided into three separate stages: oxidation, reduction and secondary oxidation.

In the decoration of the bulk of the Attic vases, two colors were used: reddish-orange and metallic black. Reddish-orange was the natural color of the fired Attic clay from which the vases were made; it was intensified when the product was coated with yellow ocher. Metallic black gloss, or varnish, was obtained from the same Attic red clay; the glossy finish became black as a result of firing. The iron oxide contained in the clay gave the product a red color if it was fired in an oxidizing environment, and black if it was fired in a reducing environment. The clay that was used both for shaping the vase and for polishing contained the same iron oxides. During the first, oxidizing stage of firing, both the vase and the lacquer turned red. During the restoration firing, both the vase and the lacquer acquired a black color. During repeated oxidative firing, the porous fired clay turned red again, and the varnish could no longer oxidize again, since the resulting scale firmly separated the black iron oxide included in its composition from contact with air oxygen. Thus, the vase came out of the firing red, and the lacquer remained black.

There are even more ancient examples of the use of oxidative and reductive firing to obtain red and black patterns on vases. In the early Neolithic, it was discovered that reddish iron-containing clay could turn either dark yellow-red or grey-black as a result of firing, depending on whether the items were fired in a pure flame or shrouded in smoke. The earliest examples of the deliberate use of both colors on the same vessel are Egyptian black and red items of the 3rd millennium BC. The Egyptian method was to partially bury the vessel in sand for the duration of the firing; this specific technique was brought to the island of Cyprus, where black and red ceramics of this type were also made. In Crete, near the modern village of Vasiliki, vessels were found, made around 3000 BC, decorated with spots, which were created by burning the surface of a previously fired vessel with a red-hot rod.

Of course, not all ancient pottery was decorated with black and red lacquer with iron oxide. For example, items from Dimini (a Neolithic settlement in Thessaly, Greece), some types of pottery from the Middle Helladic period (Bronze Age) from the island of Aegina, and geometric-style Cretan pottery are painted with brown and black lines. For this type of decor, natural mineral dyes were used, such as manganese; these products, in contrast to black-glazed Attic ceramics, needed only single-phase firing. Areas painted over with these natural dyes usually have an inexpressive matte surface.

The manufacture of Greek black lacquer required a high degree of professional craftsmanship and standardization of manufacturing operations. In the 4th c. BC. Athens lost foreign markets; the interest of artists in other forms of expression than ceramics, as well as the increasing popularity of metal and glass vessels, caused a decrease in the production and quality of Attic vases. Although black lacquer was still used to decorate vases with a smooth surface or for vessels decorated with relief patterns cast in matrices, its quality deteriorated. Thanks to trade and Greek colonists, black-lacquer ceramics came to Southern Italy, where the Etruscans began to produce it, and later the potters of Apulia, Campagna, etc. In Roman times, both black and red lacquer were used throughout the Mediterranean, firing vessels in an oxidizing environment.

so-called. Megarian bowls, which were produced in many areas of the Eastern Mediterranean from the end of the 3rd century. BC, at first they were decorated with black-gloss painting. However, gradually more and more vessels began to be covered with red varnish. They were followed by red-glazed Pergamon and Samos ceramics, which were made in various localities. Most famous in the Eastern Mediterranean were high-quality Aretine ceramics, which were produced in Arrezium (modern Arezzo) from 30 BC. to 30 AD This variety of red-glazed pottery with relief decor was called terra sigillata (patterned clay, or clay decorated with figured images).

The technique of making black-glazed and red-glazed ceramics spread throughout Europe to Gaul and Roman Britain. One of the main centers of production in the 2nd century. was the city of Lesoux in central Gaul. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, Greek black lacquer was forgotten and eventually replaced by ceramic glaze brought from the Eastern Mediterranean. The vitreous-type glaze commonly used by potters today is composed of silica and flux colored with mineral fillers. From antiquity to the present, ceramic glaze has been widely used because it is simple and reliable in production and provides an unlimited choice of color palette.

Archaic art - formation from the 7th century. , VI c. BC e. Black-figure ceramics Formation of a new type of ceramics, expressing the special spirit of the city. Improving manufacturing techniques: Better recipe for clay mass, improved firing quality (strong thin-walled vessels with a clean smooth surface of a noble orange-red or cherry-brick tone; beautiful black painting with a thick olive or bluish tint, white paint sometimes for robes and a female body The artistic aspect of the development of ceramics: The development and enrichment of the aesthetic expressiveness of forms, the architectonics of the vessel - the expressiveness of harmonious and reasonably beautiful proportions of shapes and volumes, the main types of vessels have developed, their shape was determined by purpose Classification of ceramic vessels by purpose: Practical and votive purpose, prizes By area of ​​application Þ For storage of bulk substances and water: amphora, pelika, hydria, pithos Þ Vessels for oils (large and small): lekythus, alabaster, arybal, bombylia Þ Vessels with lids and boxes: pexida, calpiva Þ Vessels for wines: oinochoe - for carrying wine, crater - for diluting wine, kylix - for drinking, kyaf - for scooping wine from the crater Þ Highly specialized ceramics: gutt or dropper (baby bottle). Amphora. The form was formed back in the Homeric era, originally intended for storing olive oil and wine. Transition from an image-sign, an image-symbol to an image-image. The bodily beauty of a person, the architectonics and life of the human body attracts. Monumental vases disappear; the subject-thematic circle of murals is expanding and more richly differentiated systems of their forms and proportions are being created; The paintings at the end of the archaic begin to correspond to the purpose of the vessel, forming not only a stylistic, but also a thematic-figurative beginning. Themes and plots - from ancient myths, epic tales, from real life. the exploits of Hercules and the Trojan War were popular. The compositional connection with the shape of the vessel is associated with the peculiarities of its perception from different points of view. During the VI century. BC e. black-figure technique dominates, the background is bright orange Attic clay, white and purple (brown), yellow, pink; the varnish is improved, gives a brilliant deep color or slightly olive; paints were used very sparingly. In painting - the development of its own storyline, a more realistic manner of depicting a particular event, the image of a person now and later is distinguished by an almost grotesque expression, a well-known disproportionate body shape. Vases made in different cities have only their characteristic features. The black-figure style reached a special flowering in Athens - they were distinguished by the elegance of forms, high manufacturing technique, and plot diversity. The custom is to sign vases with the names of the potter and vase painter. By the end of the VI century. BC e. black-figure ceramics exhausts itself, comes into conflict with the new stylistic searches of artists. Masters - Exekios, Amasis (amphora with a scene of grape harvesting by sileni), potters Nikosthenes, Andokid. Examples: amphora depicting flying Gorgons from Dipylon (late 7th century BC), Proto-Corinthian olpa (about 640 BC), Ceretan hydria depicting Hercules, Cerberus and Eurystheus and depicting kites and a hare on the reverse side (about 530 BC), an amphora with two compositions: Achilles and Ajax playing dice, and Castor and Polydeuces, brothers of the Dioscuri; Kilik of Vulci. Ships. Nikosthenes (about 520 BC); amphora depicting Dionysus and his son Oinopion and Achilles and Penthesilleus (c. 525 BC).

Thanks to the excavations, it was revealed that pottery in ancient times had a wide development and distribution. Often clay vessels were used for cooking, as they were the strongest and most durable dishes.

In addition, dried fruits were stored in baked clay utensils, water was carried both for drinking and for washing. Depending on the shape of the product, each vessel had its own purpose. Dough was kneaded in jars, drinks were served to the table in pots, cabbage soup was cooked in pots, kvass, honey, and mash were stored in tsenin (glazed) vessels.

Creation of vessels

The more ancient manufacture of containers by hand molding later developed into the molding of products using a potter's wheel and kilns.

The bottom of the vessel was made of a long raw clay strip, wound onto the table top of the foot fixture in the form of a spiral. Then the body and the neck of the product were formed from the same tape. After creating the initial shape of the vessel, its walls were smoothed, fastening the tape coils and making the surface even.

In another method, the vessel was formed from a single piece of clay by pulling the raw material up on a rotating circle, while the master gave the product the correct shape.

There was also a third method that used molds. Still damp and not quite ready, the vessel was taken out and dried.

The first clay pots had an uneven, rough surface with a cone-shaped bottom and a wide neck. Later, the bottom of the products became flatter and more stable.

The most common earthenware vessel was a low rounded pot without handles. It was stable, had a wide mouth and was used in the kitchen for various purposes.

A pot with handles was called a brother and was used to serve food to the table.

The liquid vessel was smaller, had a handle and a spout. Such dishes were called endova. A pitcher belongs to a variety of this container.

In the 19th century, clay vessels were replaced with metal cast irons, pots, ladles and various modern utensils.

Painting on vessels, on which the Ancient Greeks applied special paints, and then burned household items, are called "vases". Pottery was of great importance to the Greeks. They invented a huge number, different in type, appearance and purpose, vases, jugs, amphorae and other vessels.

Ancient Greek vase painting is studied by scientists according to historical periods. They begin with the Minoan (3rd century BC). Over the centuries, the culture of painting and painting vessels has changed up to Hellenism (the pre-Christian period). During the prosperity of Greece, when peace reigned, art and culture developed intensively. Among the artists who have become best known are:

Timanf.

Zeuxis.

Parrhasius.

Apollodorus of Athens.

Exekius.

Pasiad.

Hares.

It is known that Apollodorus created a unique painting technique, which was later called "chiaroscuro". The artist began to be called the Shadow Painter. The Greeks did not keep the secret of creating a painting in chiaroscuro, but the technique was re-created. True, much later, in the Renaissance.

Artistic works The ancient Greeks brought to the background. Painting on ceramics dominated. Vase painting is a whole art that gave a huge impetus to the painting of the Greeks. The most common forms of vases for the Greeks were called:

amphora;

crater;

kylik;

hydria.

There were other types of vessels. In total there are more than 50 species. Wines and oils were stored in amphorae. They drank wine from the kilik. The crater looked like a bowl. The name "hydria" speaks for itself. They kept water in it.

Painting technique: from simple to complex

Vase painting began with very simple patterns. Among them are simple geometric shapes (triangles, squares, circles, rectangles), wavy lines, thick dots. Later, the ornaments became more complex. Over time, scenes from life appeared. Historians note that the life of the whole family could be judged from the drawing on one vase. People's faces, clothes, interior and household items, animals, plants were drawn in detail. They also drew scenes from history. Some of the patterns were quite whimsical. They depicted feasts, scenes of war, mythological subjects.

Earthenware jugs with casual ornaments are considered a bright representative of the Minoan era. Flowers and curls were applied on a black background with white paint. The Greeks liked to depict marine motifs on jugs. Among them are dolphins, octopuses, coral reefs, algae.

The drawing technique also changed. Used different types of paints. Most of them changed color after firing, darkening. More often they turned into shades of brown or red. By adding black, the masters achieved an unsurpassed combination of colors. Over time, artists invented black lacquer and covered the spaces between the figures and patterns on the vases with it, and the pictures themselves were dark burgundy.

Later, vase painters liked painting on a white base. Such ornaments were considered aerobatics. Lines of white paint on a dark background were used to depict women to emphasize their white skin. Masters began to use a greater variety of colors. Appeared: yellow, orange, green, blue and their shades. They were applied to both white and black backgrounds.

It was believed that only one drawing or character on a vase was an unfinished work. Amphoras and jugs were painted completely, up to the very neck. On it, most often, a simple ornament flaunted. The main drawing was on the vase itself. Many masters were not too lazy to put autographs on their works.

In the drawings and plots that the Ancient Greeks applied to the vessels - a shade of life, culture, traditions, customs, history of this people. According to archaeologists, among the finds at the excavations of ancient Greek settlements and cities, most of all are ceramics. Wherever representatives of the Greek people settled, researchers note the presence of painted pots and vases among household items.

In addition to the Greek metropolis, vase painting became the area of ​​distribution for:

• Asia Minor.
• Islands in the Aegean.
• Crete.
• Cyprus.
• Southern Italy.

With the development of trade routes, Greek ceramics came to Egypt, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Archaeologists have noticed one interesting fact: any item of clay dishes, not to mention decorative jugs and vases, the Greeks painted. It was obligatory to make gifts and offerings in the form of painted dishes to monks, elders, temple servants. Ceramic household items were put into graves during burials.

Mycenaean ceramics left a wide mark in the culture of Ancient Greece. This period dates back to 1600. BC. The painting samples are significantly different from the earlier ones. There are ships and people on the vases, all in dark colors.

Later, not all of the geometric designs were simple. In 900 years. BC. geometry flourishes in Greece. With its development, the patterns on the jugs also change. Initially, circles and ellipses were drawn using a compass. The figurines alternated logically, forming chains and turning a simple ornament into an intricate design. Such alternations were separated from each other by horizontal lines.

Not only the Greeks influenced the rest of the world, "giving fashion" to ornaments and painting flowerpots. Over time, ancient Egyptian stories were introduced into traditional motifs. Sphinxes and lions appeared. But in terms of technology, there were no big differences from the early period.

Varieties of vessels in ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks invented a lot of traditional and bizarre forms of jugs for water and other liquids. Among them:

• Amphora. This vessel is oval in shape and has 2 handles. The traditional volume is a little more than 25 liters.
• alabaster. A vessel with a flat neck, to which an “eye” was attached to make it more convenient to hang on the wall. Perfume components were stored in this small jug.
• dinos. Alcohol was mixed in it. Mostly wine. In appearance, this vessel resembles a jug on a stand.
• hydria. An elongated vessel in which water or drinks were stored for feasts. More often, only handles were painted on such jugs.
• Kanfar. Very similar to a goblet with handles and a high leg.
• Kiaf more like a bowl with one handle, long and curved. Used to scoop up liquids. They measured not only water, but also bulk substances. The volume of the kiaf is approximately 45 ml.
• Kilik. A flat bowl with a pair of handles.
• Crater played the role of a container for diluting strong wines. Its throat is quite wide.
• skyphos. Almost half-liter bowl with 2 handles. Designed for drinks.
• Stamnos. Oval, flattened wine vessel with a thin neck.

Basically, any vessels were used to store liquids or decorate feasts. Some jugs were specially painted for important dates and celebrations. These vessels served exclusively for guests, and were often given as gifts.

The process of painting in ancient Greece

Clay vessels were painted before firing. After the clay was shaped and the workpiece dried in the sun, the craftsmen proceeded to apply a primer - the basis for the drawing. The base was a slip solution or mineral liquid. Then an ornament was applied. The vessel was put on its knees and work began. The paint was taken with brushes of various shapes and sizes.

Compasses, wooden sticks, metal tools were also used. Later, when the drawings became much more complicated, the masters first made sketches, and then drew a “finishing” version. At the end, they signed an autograph, let the paint dry and sent the product for firing. In rare cases, before firing, the price of an amphora or a skyphos was drawn on the bottom or on the side below.

Large decorative vases, on which there was room for the master to “roam around”, were whole works of art. The motifs of the painting were dedicated to the gods of Ancient Greece, people - the heroes of myths. The least harm of such images was scenes of everyday life of the Ancient Greeks. Paintings of feasts, wedding ceremonies, Olympic competitions or scenes from the daily life of athletes and their training have become widespread.

Later, paints were invented that did not require firing. Such vases were called "canosian". In everyday life, they were almost never used. They were intended for laying in the burial. Vessels and stucco were decorated. This was done mainly by the masters of Sicily. Some techniques that did not become widespread, but were characteristic only for certain places. The most popular became amphorae of Athens, Laconia, Boeotia.

Symi Island

Symi Island is one of the most beautiful and most visited in the Dodecanese. First of all, the port, which is called the most beautiful in Greece, strikes with its beauty. The city climbs in terraces up the slopes of the hills facing the shore. It was built mainly in the 19th century. Houses with balconies and tiled roofs, painted in various warm colors. The city is declared an architectural monument, and the reconstruction of old buildings and the construction of new ones is strictly prohibited.

Rhetoric in ancient Greece

Signs and superstitions in Greece

In Greece, Orthodox (orthodox) Christianity is the official state religion, but despite this, the Greeks are not very religious and believe in some signs. For example, many interesting signs are associated with inviting guests. Especially important is the guest who first entered the house in the coming new year.

Democritus

Democritus of Abdera is one of the great philosophers of antiquity, it was he who was one of the first to lay the foundation for materialistic philosophy and atomism (the direction of natural philosophy). Democritus was born around the year 460 in the city of Abdera (Avdyra), which was located in Thrace.

Greek standard of beauty

In this article, dear readers, we will consider the styles of vase painting in Ancient Greece. This is an original, bright and amazing layer of ancient culture. Anyone who has seen an amphora, a lekythos or a skyphos with their own eyes will forever keep their unsurpassed beauty in their memory.

Ancient Greece vase painting

Stunning examples of ancient Greek vase paintings delight the eye of tourists and are a coveted item in the collection of many art connoisseurs. These multi-colored vessels delight with a variety of shapes, plots and colors.

In the article, we will consider the styles of vase painting, starting from the periodization of the culture of Hellas. Greek vases (drawings will be given below) have gone from a simple pot, burned at the stake, to a masterpiece of ancient painting in the form of a red-figured bilingual amphora.

Due to their exceptional beauty and sophistication, these items quickly became popular imports to various parts of Europe and Asia. They are found both in Celtic burials and in the tombs of the Middle East and North Africa.

The following fact is interesting. The very first examples were found in Etruscan crypts, and initially no one associated them with the Greeks. Only at the end of the nineteenth century, Johann Winckelmann proved their Hellenic origin. After such a discovery, ancient Greek vase painting became one of the most important topics in the study of antiquity.

Today, vessels allow not only to restore many areas of the life of this people, but also to date various events, as well as to get acquainted with the names of the masters.

Centers and technologists of vase painting

Thanks to the finds of archaeologists today, many museums around the world can boast of examples of ancient Greek vase paintings. There are also Corinthian ceramics from the island of Crete, black- and red-figure amphoras, lekythos and other types of dishes.

On the mainland, the main centers of production were the Attic metropolises of Athens and Corinth. In addition to them, there are also masters from Laconia and Boeotia. It was in these policies that various methods of decorating vessels were invented.

Later the production center moves to Southern Italy. Just as in the early Hellenic period, he moved from Crete to the mainland. Two cities stand out here - the Sicilian Centuripa and the southern Italian Canosa.

Separately, it is worth dwelling on the technology with which Greek vases were made. Drawings testify to the use of the potter's wheel as early as the second millennium BC.

Clay was selected by color. In some areas, it was of a different color - from yellow to brown. If the material was very oily, fireclay and sand were added to it. In addition, the clay was specially "aged". The process included a long exposure of raw materials in a humid room after washing. As a result, she became very elastic and supple.

Then the material was kneaded with feet and placed on the potter's wheel. The finished vessel was dried in the shade for several days, after which it was painted. Only after all these procedures, the object was fired.

Aegean period

The earliest examples of this art form are the vessels of Minoan, Minyan and Mycenaean pottery. The first, in particular, is also called the Kamares vase painting (after the name of the grotto on the island of Crete, where samples were first discovered).

As we said earlier, such painting of ceramics appears around the middle of the third millennium BC. The first period, which corresponds to the early Helladic or Aegean era, is divided by scientists into several sub-periods.

The first lasted until about the twenty-first century BC. At that time, simple geometric ornaments on the one-colored walls of vessels prevailed. Then he is replaced by the Kamares style. It stands out among contemporary ceramics. The main distinguishing feature is the white spiral and floral elements, which were applied to the matte background of the vessel.

In the seventeenth century BC, the nature of the drawing changes significantly. Now marine elements are becoming predominant: octopuses, fish, corals, nautiluses, dolphins and others. Since the middle of the fifteenth century, a period of decline has been observed in Cretan painting.

But on the mainland, the so-called "archaic vase painting" was developing at that time. First of all, Minyan ceramics should be attributed here. It was thin-walled, without drawings. This type of pottery existed from the twenty-second to the middle of the sixteenth century BC. It is replaced by Mycenaean pottery.

The seventeenth century BC turned out to be a turning point both in mainland Greece and at this time, the Mycenaean culture is spreading here with its own motifs in vase painting. Researchers divide it into four periods, bringing it up to the era of the Dorian invasion of the country (in the eleventh century BC).

Judging by the drawing, then in the early Mycenaean painting, simple matte dark drawings predominate. Around the fifteenth century BC, they are replaced by plants and representatives of the animal world. And in the thirteenth century before the birth of Christ, human figures and ships appear. The latter is often associated with which belonged approximately to this period.

geometry

In the middle of the twelfth century, the fine arts fell into decline along with the rest of the culture. The period before the tenth century is considered a "dark time" in the development of this people.

If we talk about ceramics, then in this era there are three styles of painting. With the advent of the Dorians, most of the achievements of Mycenaean culture disappear. Until the middle of the eleventh century, there was a stage of the "Submycenaean" tradition, when the forms of the vessels were preserved, but the drawings on them disappeared.

Then comes the period of proto-geometric ornamentation. Basically, ceramics were characterized by two horizontal circular stripes near the neck and in the middle of the vessel. Between them were usually located concentric circles, which were created using a compass.

The composition becomes much more complicated in the tenth century BC. Now single and double meanders appear. Often, geometric objects played the role of a frieze on the vessel wall. Below them were stylized images of people, plants and animals.

Gradually, ancient Greek culture progressed. During the life of Homer, there is a tendency to reduce the area of ​​geometric friezes, which are replaced by military processions with chariots or a series of various outlandish animals.

The predominant color of the drawings was black or red on a white background. During this period, all anthropomorphic figures were depicted schematically. The body of the men was in the form of an inverted triangle, the head was an oval with a hint of a nose, and the legs were depicted as two cylinders (thigh and lower leg).

East trends

Gradually, ancient Greek culture is being improved. Images are becoming more complex, there is a process of borrowing elements from the art of eastern peoples. Especially during this period, Corinth stands out. In the next century, this policy will become the only center of vase painting.

So, in the seventh century BC, Greek craftsmen begin to adopt motifs from imported fabrics and carpets. Sphinxes, lions, griffins and other living creatures “settle” on the walls of the vessels.

Also a characteristic feature of this era is the "fear of the void." So the researchers called the original feature that distinguished the ancient Greek vase painting of the Corinthian style. On the entire surface area, they tried not to leave a single unfilled place.

It was the Corinthian potters who laid the foundation for an entire era in ceramics. The triple firing, which they invented, later showed itself in black-figure amphoras, which we will discuss later.

The researchers divide the orientalizing style into the Corinthian and Attic periods. In the first of these, vase painting developed from schematic animals to natural images of animals and detailed depiction of mythological creatures. The main rule of the potters was to maximize the use of the outer surface of the pots. These vessels can be compared to a painter's canvas or a tapestry wrapped around a vase.

The Attic period is characterized by a braid of geometric elements on the neck and near the bottom. The greater part of the wall was allocated for the figures of animals and, occasionally, plants, which were painted with black paint.

Black-figure vases

The development of the Corinthian and early Attic style resulted in black-figure vase painting. This is one of the two most famous and significant techniques in the ancient world, along with the red-figure.

The peculiarity of this stage of production was that the potters stand out as a separate layer of craftsmen. They worked exclusively on creating the shape of the vessel and fixing the finished sample. That is, these artisans sculpted from clay and fired products. Ceramics were painted exclusively by slaves, who were considered significantly lower than potters in their position.

The prepared vessel was fired to the state of "raw". The walls, which were not completely hardened, still made it possible to make notches and apply a layer of prepared material, which later became a stunning decoration. Next, the image was created using glossy clay and a special cutter.

Previously, it was believed that such ceramics were varnished, but recent studies have shown that it is the slip (glossy type of clay) after firing that makes the surface of the vessel.

Thus, black-figure vase painting was born within the walls of Corinth, in the workshops of artisans who sought to bring a piece of the mysterious East into the everyday life of the Hellenes.

But after the Orientalized style, which was dominated by animals, black-figure pottery proper appears. It is already dominated by images of people. The main motives were feasts, festivities and plots of the Trojan War.

Such production lasted from the seventh to the middle of the sixth century BC. It is replaced by the red-figure style in ceramics.

Red-figure vase painting

It is believed that red-figure vase painting appeared in the thirties of the sixth century BC. The Athenian Andocides, being a student of the master of black-figure ceramics, began experimenting with colors for the first time. In fact, he just did the opposite. Not a black drawing on a background of unfired clay, but a black background in which an image emerges from the natural color of the material.

It was this period that is famous for the unspoken competition between vase painters, who are often called "pioneers" in science. They worked in different cities, but often left messages on each other's vases. For example, on one of the amphoras, the inscription “Epiphanius never knew how to do this” was found. The authorship of the graffiti is attributed to the master Euthymides.

Thus, the red-figure style of vase painting is spreading quite widely. He stepped out of Greece. A similar technique for painting vessels is found in southern Italy. She was also popular among the Etruscans.

It is noteworthy that during this period there is a certain departure from the detailing and naturalization of images. The number of heroes on vessels is reduced, but perspective, movement and other artistic techniques are being used professionally.

Now the masters specialize not in the plot or a certain type of images (animals, people, plants ...). From now on, vase painters are divided according to the type of vessels. There were artists who worked exclusively with amphoras. Also, the most common types of ceramic products include bowls, phials, lekythos and dinos.

Drawing on a white background

Ancient Greek vase painting continued to develop. Red and black bilingual vessels are being replaced by a completely new technique for decorating products. Now the background is not black or natural, but white. Also during this period, the masters continue to pay attention exclusively to certain types of vessels.

In particular, painting on a white background was used on terracotta alabastrons, lekythos and arybals. It is believed that Psiax was the first to work in this technique. He created a lekythos in this style in 510 BC. But the most famous vase painter on a white background is Pistoxenus.

This master worked with the “four-color technique”. He used varnish, paint and gilding. White itself was achieved due to limestone clay, which covered the "raw".

Similar styles of vase painting are already departing from the original decoration of ceramic vessels. Now a completely new direction in art is being created, like original painting.

This period was one of the final in the history of ancient Greek vase painting. Further, production stepped outside the country to the colonies and neighboring states. In addition, now there is a departure from scenes with gods and animals. The new masters focused on the everyday life of the Greeks.

Vessels with women engaged in daily activities appear, theater, playing musical instruments, festivities, and so on are depicted.

Gnathia

Gradually, the art of vase painting moved from the Greek metropolises to the colonies. South Italian masters were especially strong. Their most ancient and widespread style was gnathia. This is a specific and very colorful painting technique that appears at the beginning of the fourth century BC.

She has a huge range of colors. There were green and brown, red and orange, yellow and gold, white, black and others. The plot was also characterized at the initial stage by diversity. Cupid met on the vessels, the daily work of women, holidays on the days of veneration of Dionysus, theatrical performances and others.

However, in the thirties of the fourth century BC, there is a sharp restriction of means of expression and scenes. Now only white and black colors are used, and the ornament is greatly simplified. Mostly plants are depicted, such as grapes, ivy and laurel, and human faces are sometimes found between shoots and vines.

Thus, Greek vase painting begins to spread throughout the Mediterranean region during the period of red-figure ceramics. After all, it was from this technique that gnathia was born, as its continuation.

Canosa and Centuripe

From now on, Greek vase painting, having passed the period of gnathia, turns into an attribute of rituals. Roman citizens were more interested in weapons, and the most simple and practical dishes were used.

At the final stage, two production centers stand out - Canosa and Centuripe. In the first one, vessels were made, painting them with water-soluble paints. This pottery has not been fired and has not been used. She was simply laid in the tombs.

The Sicilian craftsmen from Centuripe went further. They didn't even bother to form a whole vessel. Separate parts were produced and painted, which were painted and decorated with stucco. Then, in crypts and sarcophagi, the shards were attached to each other, creating a semblance of a whole jug, bowl or goblet.

Finally art Ancient Greece moved to the territory of Italy. Now the Latins used the experience of the ancient masters to decorate the life of their deceased relatives.

As we can see, the painting of vessels after the decline of Hellas gradually faded away and sank into oblivion. The Roman Empire was built as a state of warriors and patricians, and not a philosophical society of explorers and inventors.

Thus, in this article we talked about ancient vase painting. This is an original art form that adorns more than one world museum in two millennia. The masterpieces of ancient Greek vase painting still amaze researchers and connoisseurs of art.

Good luck, dear readers! Long journeys and colorful impressions.