Definition of “black-figured”—The François vase—Technical and stylistic details—Shapes—Decorative patterns—Subjects and types—Artists' signatures—Exekias and Amasis—Minor Artists—Nikosthenes—Andokides—“Affected” vases—Panathenaic amphorae—Vases from the Kabeirion—Opaque painting on black ground—Vase-painting and literary tradition—Early Greek painting and its subsequent development.
The term “black-figured” is generally applied to the Athenian fabrics of a certain well-defined character and a comparatively restricted period, but in point of fact is strictly applicable to several of the classes already discussed, such as the Chalcidian and the later Corinthian and Ionian wares. It is, indeed, in some respects inadequate as a definition. We must remember that it was originally introduced at a time when the Greek vases in public museums consisted mainly of two classes—the one with figures painted in black silhouette on red ground, the other with figures drawn in outline and surrounded with black, so that they stand out in red. Between these two classes the terms “black-figured” and “red-figured” offered an obvious and useful distinction. By way of illustration, it may be advantageous to make a comparison between the two main varieties of black-figured Attic amphorae (see pp. [161], [221]), as, for instance, they are grouped on the two sides of the Second Vase Room of the British Museum, and those with red figures in the Third Room. In the one class of black-figured amphorae the whole vase stands out in the natural red colour of the clay, whereas the red-figured amphorae are covered with black colour, so as to conceal the whole of the red of the clay except where it is left to fill in the contours of the figures. In other words, the one class, which we may term “red-bodied” amphorae, are red all but the figures; the other class are black all but the figures. There is, however, an intermediate class, which no doubt suggested the arrangement of decoration on the red-figured amphorae (see below, p. [411]), and which we may call “black-bodied” amphorae. Here the whole body of the vase is covered with black colour, except a framed panel, which is left in the red to receive the black figures. It is clear, then, that this second class of black-figured amphorae approaches more nearly in aspect to the red-figured, although it does not follow that they were necessarily a late or transitional development.
But in regard to our definition, it is necessary to reckon with the fact that there are not only vases of an earlier stage of art which have black figures painted on a (more or less) red ground, but that there are others in which the figures are painted not on red, but on a white slip. In particular we may instance the Cyrenaic vases and some of the Naucratite wares. We thus lose the sense of an exact contrast between black figures on red ground and red figures on black; and, moreover, the term acquires almost too wide a connotation to be of any value for a system of classification. The term “black-figured” must therefore be used to some extent conventionally, to denote a certain class of vases made at Athens during a certain period and with certain characteristics. The latter may be summarised as follows: (1) black varnish entirely filling in the contours of the figures; (2) red glaze (or white slip) employed as background; (3) details indicated by accessory pigments of white and purple, and incised lines; (4) subjects almost exclusively human and mythological figures.
The history of vase-painting in the middle of the sixth century B.C. is largely the history of a gradual centralising of that art in one place from a number of scattered local fabrics. This was mainly brought about by one cause—namely, the extraordinary advance in art and culture at Athens under the beneficent rule of the tyrant Peisistratos and his successors (565–510 B.C.). Previous to this time Athenian art was very limited in its scope, and in the domain of painting had so far produced nothing except the great Dipylon funeral vases, their immediate successors (the “Proto-Attic” wares), and the “Tyrrhenian” vases, which, as we have seen, were largely under the influence of Corinth. Attic importations into Italy cannot be traced until the black-figure style is well developed.
The immediate result of this advance was to attract artists from all parts of Greece—not only from Corinth, whose power was now on the wane, but also from Ionia, whose artists were driven to seek refuge elsewhere by the encroaching conquests of the Persian monarchs. Thus we shall see that certain artists, like Amasis and Nikosthenes, infused a large amount of Ionic element into their productions, just as in others we see the influence, more or less marked, of Corinth. But one marked characteristic of the Attic sixth-century vases is the entire disappearance of Oriental influence.
At the head of the new development stands the famous François vase in Florence (Plate [XXVIII].), to which allusion has been made already (p. [73]). Its date can hardly be later than the middle of the sixth century, probably somewhat earlier, and the two artists Klitias and Ergotimos, who were responsible for its production, are among the earliest of whom we have any record at Athens. The alphabet of the inscriptions leaves no doubt that it is a purely Athenian work, and the technique is also purely Attic, as are some of the subjects; but there are not a few small points which betray the influence of a Corinthian artist, such as the arrangement in several friezes. The winged goddesses, Sphinxes, and animals are non-Attic, but not necessarily Corinthian. It is, however, chiefly interesting for its wealth of subjects, which are mentioned in another chapter (Chapter [XII].); with these every available space is decorated. The style has been described as “dry, precise, and careful,” the artist as “exact and well instructed.” Closely related to this vase is one in the British Museum representing the Birth of Athena (B 147). Although the subjects (exclusive of those on the cover) are only two in number, the minuteness of treatment in detail and the richness of the composition show that it belongs to the same school.
PLATE XXVIII
From Furtwaengler and Reichhold. The François Vase in Florence.