Douris and the Painters of Greek Vases

by Edmond Pottier

Fig. 2. THE WORKSHOP OF A VASE PAINTER.

Caputi Collection, Ruvo.

We should add, however, that the distinction between Greek manufacturers and their models must have been less marked than in later ages. Of this we cannot give material proof, but from certain details we arrive at this conclusion. On the one hand, the Attic craftsman was endowed, as rarely any one has been, with the art of design and the sense of style. On the other hand, the ancient fresco, particularly of the fifth century, was only drawing in flat colours, without shading or modelling. Hence, there did not exist the gulf which in modern times separates a reproduction due to mechanical means from a painting executed with all the fine shades and skilful distinctions of chiaro oscuro. In Greece, a painter of frescoes or a painter of vases was above all things a good draughtsman. Here is a common measure which reduces the distance between them.

In the absence of original paintings we must descend a step and have recourse to the vase industry, and thus discover dimly the nature of pictorial art in the best times of classic Greece.

But here another question arises. In treating of Greek ceramics, is the name of Douris the most important one among the many artists presenting themselves to our mind? He formed one of the Pleïades, who, between the expulsion of the tyrant Hippias (510 B.C.) and the Persian wars (490–479 B.C.), brought the manufacture of Athenian pottery to its culminating point. His rivals Euphronios and Brygos have, however, been considered more skilled or more inspired in their work. Why then choose Douris as the most representative type of Greek painting?

This is the reason. We know at present about one hundred names of manufacturers and painters of vases. Those who during the best period have left the greatest number of works are Euphronios, Douris, Hieron, and Brygos. Leaving aside simple fragments, and only counting pieces helpful for serious study, we possess of the first-named ten signed works, of the third twenty, of the fourth eight. Of Douris twenty-eight are known.

The greater number alone would justify our choice. But another and more important consideration may be added to the former. Manufacturers of vases have different trademarks for their ware. They trace their name with a paint-brush on the body of the vase, or else incise it in fine letters on the foot or handle. The mode in which their name occurs varies: “So-and-so made,” or else “So-and-so painted.” There can be no uncertainty as to the latter phrase; it refers to the artist who executed the paintings decorating the vase. But this term is far less frequent than the former, which has caused many discussions. “So-and-so made”? Is it a more elliptical way of implying the designer, or is it the potter who speaks in contrast to the painter and designer? Or, again, did the same man make the vase and then paint it? Is it the master, the overseer who directs the entire manufacture, and who, after the different processes of modelling, of decoration, and of baking have been executed under his direction and according to his plans, affixes to the ware of his house a sort of commercial trade-mark? All these opinions have been supported at different times. We cannot say that the subject has been fully elucidated. In consequence we run a great risk of mistake in saying that a painting is a certain potter’s workmanship, when the vase does not explicitly state who painted it.

The inevitable conclusion remains; to argue with certainty about painters of vases we can only trust one expression: “So-and-so painted.” In the most prominent group of potters of the fifth century, it is Douris who best fulfils all these conditions, and relieves us of all uncertainties on this subject. He is a craftsman, and can make a pot or have one made under his direction. The museum at Brussels possesses a kantharos which “Douris made” ([Fig. 1]). But he is above all a draughtsman and executes all his paintings himself, for the twenty-eight examples mentioned, including the kantharos at Brussels, bear the words, “Douris painted.” Even Euphronios, to whom Klein devoted an entire book, making this artist famous—and who to many represents the vase painter par excellence—only signed as draughtsman three or four vases, and as craftsman seven.

As potter and painter, Douris fulfils the necessary qualifications of a master-craftsman; above all as draughtsman and painter, he satisfies most fully our desire of finding in the decoration of painted vases a reflection of the great contemporary art. This is why the choice of his name seemed to us imperative.