White-ground technique is a style of white ancient

Greek pottery Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...

and the

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

in which figures appear on a white background. It developed in the region of

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...

, dated to about 500 BC. It was especially associated with vases made for ritual and funerary use, if only because the painted surface was more fragile than in the other main techniques of

black-figure Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic ( grc, , }), is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, although there are ...

and

red-figure vase painting 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 vas ...

. Nevertheless, a wide range of subjects are depicted.

Technique and style

In white-ground pottery, the vase is covered with a light or white slip of

kaolinite Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahed ...

. A similar slip had been used as carrier for vase paintings in the

Geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

and Archaic periods. White-ground vases were produced, for example, in

Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionia ...

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word '' laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

and on the

Cycladic islands The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name ...

, but only in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

did it develop into a veritable separate style beside black-figure and red-figure vase painting. For that reason, the term "white-ground pottery" or "white-ground vase painting" is usually used in reference to the Attic material only. The light slip was probably meant to make the vases appear more valuable, perhaps by eliciting associations with

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

. However, in no case was a vessel's entire surface covered in white slip. It has also been conjectured that this form of painting emerged in order to emulate the more prestigious medium of

wall painting A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

, but the thesis has been elusive of proof. Furthermore, the group of five Huge Lekythoi (c. 70–100 cm high) are covered entirely in white slip, which suggests an imitation of marble lekythoi for funerary purposes. White-ground vase painting often occurred in association with

. Especially typical of this are '' kylikes'' with a white-ground interior and a red-figure exterior image. White-ground painting is less durable than black- or red-figure, which is why such vases were primarily used as

votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

s and grave vessels.

Types

Hera Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2685 full

The development of white-ground vase painting took place parallel to that of the black- and red-figure styles. In the course of that development, five sub-styles can be noted: Mainade Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2645

Mainade Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2645

Early use. The earliest surviving example of the technique is a fragmentary

kantharos A ''kantharos'' ( grc, κάνθαρος) or cantharus is a type of ancient Greek cup used for drinking. Although almost all surviving examples are in Greek pottery, the shape, like many Greek vessel types, probably originates in metalwork. In i ...

signed by the potter-painter Nearchos ''ca.'' 570 BC . It was found on the

Athenian Acropolis The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...

(Akropolis 611). The technique was used to create strobing bands of colour that emphasize the shape of the vase. and is associated with the workshops of Andokides,

Nikosthenes Nikosthenes was a potter of Greek black- and red-figure pottery in the time window 550–510 BC. He signed as the potter on over 120 black-figure vases, but only nine red-figure. Most of his vases were painted by someone else, called Painter ...

and

Psiax Psiax was an Attic vase painter of the transitional period between the black-figure and red-figure styles. His works date to ''circa'' 525 to 505 BC and comprise about 60 surviving vases, two of which bear his signature. Initially he was allocat ...

. Type I. The use of a white ground in conjunction with outline painting did not develop until some fifty years later, when black-figure vase painting on white ground was probably introduced by the potter

around 530/525 BC. After a short interval, this technique was also adopted by other workshops, including that of

. The manner of painting is the same as in conventional black-figure, the colour of the grounding being the only difference. The ground is rarely pure white, but usually slightly yellowish or light beige. Type II. A second form is monochrome silhouette drawing. Images are not created from reservation (paint-free areas) and painted internal detail (as in red-figure vase painting), but from drawn outlines and painted internal detail. This style is used since the end of the 6th century BC, especially on cups, ''

alabastra An alabastron or alabastrum (plural: ''alabastra'' or ''alabastrons''; from the Greek ) is a small type of pottery or glass vessel used for holding oil, especially perfume or massage oils. They originated around the 11th century BC in ancien ...

'' and ''

lekythoi A lekythos (plural lekythoi) is a type of ancient Greek vessel used for storing oil (Greek λήκυθος), especially olive oil. It has a narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel, and is thus a narrow type of jug, with no pou ...

''. Initially, the outline of the figures is executed in the form of a relief line, but from about 500 BC, this is increasingly replaced by painted yellowish-brown lines. The so-called ''semi-outline'' technique is a combination of the first and the second technique, used only in the first half of the 5th century BC, virtually exclusively on ''lekythoi'' and ''alabastra''. Type III. In the first quarter of the 5th century, the workshop of the potter Euphronios develops a four-colour painting style using a combination of shiny clay slip and mineral paints. The images are made up of outline drawings in shiny slip and coloured areas in mineral paint. This style is used especially on ''pyxides'' and cups. Some details, such as fruit, jewellery, weaponry or vessels can be executed in clay slip in such a fashion as to attain a slight plasticity, additionally they may be gilded. The paints used are limited to tones of red and brown, yellow, white and black. Type IV. Early Classical ''lekythos'' painting combined shiny slip, mineral paints and non.ceramic mineral paints, This type developed in the second quarter of the 5th century BC. It was used in painting large grave ''lekythoi'' used in funerary cult. The images are mostly constructed of coloured areas. Pure outline drawing is only used for the depiction of male bodies at this stage. Female bodies are rendered in white paint, clothing in black shiny slip, mineral paints and occasionally non-ceramic paints such as

cinnabarite Cinnabar (), or cinnabarite (), from the grc, κιννάβαρι (), is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury and is the historic source for the bri ...

Egyptian blue Egyptian blue, also known as calcium copper silicate (CaCuSi4O10 or CaOCuO(SiO2)4 (calcium copper tetrasilicate)) or cuprorivaite, is a pigment that was used in ancient Egypt for thousands of years. It is considered to be the first synthetic pi ...

. Many images depict scenes from women's life (the '' gynaikion''). Grave images are rare. The most important representative of this style is the

Achilles Painter The Achilles Painter was a vase-painter active ca. 470–425 BC. His name vase is an amphora, Vatican 16571, in the Vatican museums depicting Achilles and dated 450–445 BC. An armed and armored Achilles gazes pensively to the right with one ...

. Type V. The fifth style was polychrome ''lekythos'' painting. It replaced Early Classical ''lekythos'' painting around the middle of the 5th century BC. By this time, white-ground can be identified most closely with three principal shapes: the

lekythos A lekythos (plural lekythoi) is a type of ancient Greek vessel used for storing oil (Greek λήκυθος), especially olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditiona ...

, the krater, and cups.Cohen, ''op. cit.'', p.190 Black shiny slip and white paint now disappeared from the paintings. Female bodies were again rendered as simple outline drawings. Non-ceramic mineral paints also ceased to be used. At the same time, several painters, starting with the Sabouroff Painter, began to use red or blackish-grey matt paints, instead of shiny slip, for the contours. Only the contours are painted before firing, other paints are applied afterwards. Therefore, the durability of such vase paintings is very limited; many examples are badly preserved or completely worn. As a result, it is difficult to assess the depicted motifs. Grave scenes are predominant. Image:Achilles Ajax dice Louvre MNB911.jpg,

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

playing a board game (Attic ''lekythos'' by the workshop of the

Diosphos Painter The Diosphos Painter was an Athenian Attic black-figure vase painter thought to have been active from 500–475 BCE, many of whose surviving works are on lekythoi. The Diosphos Painter was a pupil of the Edinburgh Painter, who also trained the ...

, ''ca.'' 500 BC) File:White-Ground Oinochoe (Wine-Jug) of Herakles and the Nemean Lion.jpg, White-ground black-figure

oinochoe An oenochoe, also spelled oinochoe ( grc, οἰνοχόη; from grc, οἶνος ''oînos'', "wine" and grc, χέω ''khéō'', "I pour," sense "wine-pourer"; plural ''oinochoai''; New Latin ''oenochoë,'' plural ''oenochoae,'' English plura ...

(Wine-Jug) of Herakles and the Nemean Lion, Athens about 520 - 500 BC, attributed to the Painter of London, potted by Andokides. Image:Hypnos Thanatos BM Vase D56 full.jpg,

Hypnos In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: means 'sleep') also spelled Hypnus is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was a dear ...

and

Thanatos In Greek mythology, Thanatos (; grc, Θάνατος, pronounced in "Death", from θνῄσκω ''thnēskō'' "(I) die, am dying") was the personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appea ...

removing the body of

Sarpedon Sarpedon (; grc, Σαρπηδών) is the name of several figures in Greek mythology * Sarpedon, a son of Zeus, who fought on the side of Troy in the Trojan War. Although in the ''Iliad'', he was the son of Zeus and Laodamia, the daughter of Bel ...

from the battlefield of Troy (''

'', Thanatos Painter, ''ca.'' 440 BC) Image:Lekythos by the Group of the Huge Lekythoi Antikensammlung BerlinF 2684 (1).jpg, ''Prothesis'' (

lying in repose Lying in repose is the tradition in which the body of a deceased person, often of high social stature, is made available for public viewing. Lying in repose differs from the more formal honor of lying in state, which is generally held at the pr ...

) (Attic plychrome ''lekythos'' (type V), from Alopeke, Group of the Huge Lekythoi, late 5th century BC)

Painters and distribution

Important Classical white-ground painters (5th century BC), in addition to the Achilleus Painter and Sabouroff Painter, include the Sappho Painter, Thanatos Painter, Bird Painter, Square Painter,

Women Painter A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as " women's rights" to denote female humans regar ...

Phiale Painter The Phiale Painter, also known as Boston Phiale Painter, was a painter of the Attic red-figure style. He was active around 460 to 430 BC. The Phiale Painter is assumed to have been a pupil of the Achilles Painter. In contrast to his master, he lik ...

, as well as several representatives of

Group R In relation to motorsport governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, Group R refers to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for rally competition. The Group R regulations were created in 2008 as a gradual ...

(''Reed Group''), including its eponymous Reed Painter. By the end of the century, some first attempts at shaded painting can be observed, influenced probably by contemporaneous

panel painting A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...

. Notable in this regard is the Group of the Huge Lekythoi, specialised in decorating large grave vessels. During the second half of the 5th century, white-ground vase painting was used nearly exclusively for grave ''lekythoi''. When that vase type went out of use around 400 BC, white-ground vase painting also ceased. Later, during the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

, various types of white-ground pottery occur in several locations of the Greek World, sometimes painted monochrome, sometimes polychrome. They include Hâdra vases, Canosa Vases and vases of the Centuripe type. '' Lagynoi'' were often decorated in white-ground technique.

Notes

Bibliography

* Donna Kurtz: ''Athenian White Lekythoi. Patterns and Painters'', Clarendon Press, Oxford 1975 * Lévêque, Pierre; ''

The Birth of Greece ''The Birth of Greece'' (UK title: ''Ancient Greece: Utopia and Reality''; french: La Naissance de la Grèce : Des Rois aux Cités, translation=The Birth of Greece: From Kings to Cities ity-States}) is a 1990 illustrated monograph on the hist ...

'', "

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname * '' Abrams v. United States'', 250 U.S. 616 (1919), U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding free speech during times of war * M1 Abrams, main battle tank * Abrams, Wi ...

" series, New York, 1994, * John Oakley: ''Picturing Death in Classical Athens. The Evidence of the White Lekythoi'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004, . * E. Pottier, ''Étude sur les lécythes blancs antiques'', 1883. *Schoder, Raymond V.; ''Masterpieces of Greek Art'', New York Graphic Society * Irma Wehgartner: ''Attisch weissgrundige Keramik. Maltechniken, Werkstätten, Formen, Verwendung'', von Zabern, Mainz 1983 (Keramikforschungen, Vol 5), . * Irma Wehgartner: ''Weißgrundige Vasenmalerei''. In: Der Neue Pauly, vol. 12, cols 454-456. *Woodford, Susan; ''An Introduction to Greek Art'', New York, 1988 *

Technique and style

Types

Painters and distribution

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading