Asteas (active between 350 and 320 BC in

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...

, Southern Italy) was one of the more active

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

vase painters in Magna Graecia, practicing the

red-figure Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 520 BCE and remained in use until the late 3rd century BCE. It replaced the previously dominant style of black-figure va ...

style. He managed a large workshop, in which above all

hydria The hydria ( el, ὑδρία; plural hydriai) is a form of Greek pottery from between the late Geometric period (7th century BC) and the Hellenistic period (3rd century BC). The etymology of the word hydria was first noted when it was stamped o ...

i and

krater A krater or crater ( grc-gre, , ''kratēr'', literally "mixing vessel") was a large two-handled shape of vase in Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. Form and function At a Greek symposium, krat ...

s were painted. He painted mostly mythological and theatrical scenes. He is one of the few vase painters of the Greek colonies whose name comes down to us.

Selected works

*Berlin, Antikensammlung :Calyx krater F 304

*Kassel, Staatliche Museen :Skyphos *Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum :Calyx krater 81.AE.78 ''(2006 als Fund aus einer Raubgrabung an Italien zurückgegeben)'

*Paris, Musée National du Louvre :Lekanis K 57

*Tampa, Tampa Museum of Art :Hydria 89.9

References

* Arthur Dale Trendall. ''The red-figured vases of Paestum''. Rome: British School, 1987. * Erika Simon. Ein neuer signierter Kelchkrater des Asteas. In: ''Numismatica e antichità classiche. Quaderni ticinesi'' 31 (2002) 115-127. * Erika Simon. The Paestan painter Asteas. In: ''Greek vases. Images, contexts and controversies. Proceedings of the conference sponsored by the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean at Columbia University, 23–24 March 2002'' (Leiden 2004), p. 113-122. {{DEFAULTSORT:Asteas 4th-century BC Greek people Ancient Greek vase painters People from the Province of Salerno Lucanian Greeks Artists of Magna Graecia