PLUNDERING CORINTH.[ToList]
Good, particularly red, clay was in demand for superior goods, and of this the promontory of Kolias, near Athens, furnished an unlimited supply. The potter's wheel was in use at a very early period. On it were formed both large and small vessels, with the difference, however, that of the former the foot, neck, and handles were formed separately, and afterwards attached, as was also the case in small vessels with widely curved handles.
In order to intensify the red color the vessel was frequently glazed and afterwards dried and burnt on the oven. The outlines of the figures to be painted on the vase were either cut into the red clay and filled up with a brilliant black varnish, or the surface itself was covered with the black varnish up to the contours, in which case these stood out in the natural red color of the clay.
The first mentioned process was the older of the two, and greater antiquity is, therefore, to be assigned to vessels with black figures on a red ground. In both kinds of paintings draperies or the muscles of nude figures were further indicated by the incision of additional lines of the color of the surface into the figures. Other colors, like dark red, violet, or white, which on close investigation have been recognized as dissolvable, were put on after the second burning of the vessel.
About the historic development of pottery we know nothing beyond what may be guessed from the differences of style. As we said before, figures of a black or dark-brown color painted on the natural pale red or yellowish color of the clay indicate greater antiquity. The black figures were occasionally painted over in white or violet. These vessels are mostly small and somewhat compressed in form; they are surrounded with parallel stripes of pictures of animals, plants, fabulous beings, or arabesques. The drawings show an antiquated stiff type, similar to those on the vessels recently discovered at Nineveh and Babylon, whence the influence of Oriental on Greek art may be inferred. This archaic style, like the strictly hieratic style in sculpture, was retained together with a freer treatment at a more advanced period. As a first step of development we notice the combination of animals and arabesques, at first with half-human, half-animal figures, soon followed by compositions belonging mostly to a certain limited circle of myths. The treatment of figures shows rigidity in the calm, and violence in the active, positions. The Doric forms of letters and words on many vases of this style, whether found in Greece or Italy, no less than the uniformity of their technique, indicate one place of manufacture, most likely the Doric Corinth, celebrated for her potteries; on the other hand, the inscriptions in Ionian characters and written in the Ionian dialect on vessels prove their origin in the manufactures of the Ionian Eubœa and her colonies. The pictures on these vases, also painted in stripes, extend the mythological subject-matter beyond the Trojan cycle to the oldest epical myths, each story being represented in its consecutive phases.
The latter vases form the transition to the second period. The shapes now become more varied, graceful, and slender. The figures are painted in black, and covered with a brilliant varnish; the technique of the painting, however, does not differ from that of the first period. The outlines have been neatly incised and covered up with black paint; the details also of draperies and single parts of the body are done by incision, and sometimes painted over in white or dark red. The principle seems to be that of polychrome painting, also applied in sculpture. Single parts of the armor, embroideries, and patterns of dresses, hair, and beards of men, the manes of animals, etc., are indicated by means of dark red lines. This variety of color was required particularly for the draperies, which are stiff and clumsily attached to the body. The same stiffness is shown in the treatment of faces and other nude parts of the body, as also in the rendering of movements. The faces are always in profile, the nose and chin pointed and protruding, and the lips of the compressed mouth indicated only by a line. Shoulders, hips, thighs, and calves bulge out, the body being singularly pinched. The grouping is equally imperfect. The single figures of compositions are loosely connected by the general idea of the story. They have, as it were, a narrative character; an attempt at truth to nature is, however, undeniable.
