The Berlin Painter (active c. 490–460s BC) is the conventional name given to an

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

vase painters who is widely regarded as among the most talented of his time. There are no painter signatures on any of the Berlin Painter's attributed works. From the surviving vases, it is safe to assume that he was a major painter, as there are over 400 vases and fragments attributed to him. The Berlin Painter along with his apparent rival the Kleophrades Painter was educated by a member of the Pioneer Group, who introduced

red-figure Red-figure pottery () is a style of Pottery of ancient Greece, ancient Greek pottery in which the background of the pottery is painted black while the figures and details are left in the natural red or orange color of the clay. It developed in A ...

painting. The Berlin Painter began working in the Late Archaic style and helped develop the

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

style. Over a long career he trained many younger vase-painters, including, probably, the Achilles Painter. The majority of his works have been found across Italy. This may suggest that they were created for export to the Italian market. Many of his valued works were preserved as élite

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by researche ...

in the necropoleis of

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

and

Etruria Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...

, notably at

Vulci Vulci or Volci ( Etruscan: ''Velch'' or ''Velx'', depending on the romanization used) was a rich Etruscan city in what is now northern Lazio, central Italy. As George Dennis wrote, "Vulci is a city whose very name... was scarcely remembered, ...

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian worship. ...

and

Locri Locri is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Its name derives from that of the ancient Greek region of Locris. Today it is an important administrative and cultural center on the Ion ...

. In 2017, Princeton University did a showcase, ''The Berlin Painter and his World''. A book was also published, the first to focus on The Berlin Painter since

John Beazley Sir John Davidson Beazley (; 13 September 1885 – 6 May 1970) was a British classical archaeologist and art historian, known for his classification of Attic vases by artistic style. He was professor of classical archaeology and art at the U ...

's ''Der Berliner Maler''.

Forms and repertoire

Red figure vase-painting was invented around 530 BC. Before then

black-figure Black-figure pottery painting (also known as black-figure style or black-figure ceramic; ) is one of the styles of Ancient Greek vase painting, painting on pottery of ancient Greece, antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th a ...

vases were popular. The earliest works attributed to the Berlin Painter occur around 505 BC, attesting to his being educated by the red-figure Pioneer Group.https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/story/berlin-painter-and-his-world-athenian-vase-painting-early-fifth-century-bc-view-march-4-june The Berlin Painter utilized a variety of different shapes. His most popular shape is the

amphora An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

. He produced a series of

Panathenaic amphora Panathenaic amphorae were the amphora, amphorae, large ceramic vessels, that contained the olive oil given as a prize in the Panathenaic Games. Some were and high. This oil came from the sacred grove of Akademos, Athena at Akademia. The amphora ...

, which are his only

vases. He painted a number of

Nolan amphora The Nolan amphora is a variant style of the amphora jar, a common artifact of Pottery of ancient Greece, Greek and Ancient Roman pottery, Roman pottery. Nolan amphorae are characterized by a neck that is longer and narrower than in traditional neck ...

, and was responsible for the popularity of that form. He also painted on water jars ( hydriai), large wine bowls ( kraters), or smaller shapes such as jugs ( oinochoai) and oil bottles ( lekythoi). His two most popular characters from mythology are

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. Fawns and Greek animals are also popular themes in his work, which varied from mythological themes to athletes. One "masterpiece" is a hydra in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

. Apollo is seated on a large tripod with wings, with which he flies over the sea escorted by two dolphins in the act of diving. On several of his vases, painted red figures are isolated or paired without framing devices against a glossy black ground. So integral to the forms of their superbly-made bodies; it is thought the wares themselves were also produced in his shop. The tall figures often start near the middle of the vase and continue over the shoulder, stopping at the neck. He pays close attention to the drapery of their clothing, and their facial features. Most notable is the eye, which is typically open, long, and with the pupil towards the inner eye. The Berlin Painter used dilute glaze to add red tones onto his vases. This is clear on the fawn's coat in his namepiece. He is also known for his careful key patterns, which border the bottom of his single figures, and are unique to the Berlin painter and his students. The pattern features alternating

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

boxes with alternating

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

squares.

Name vase

The Berlin Painter was named by British art historian Sir

in 1911 for a large lidded

in the

Antikensammlung Berlin The Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin antiquities collection) is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeologica ...

(the Berlin Painter's '' name vase''). The vase is in good condition. The obverse is well preserved, but the reverse has suffered surface wear and discoloration. Side A: satyr and Hermes. Hermes strides to the right swinging his arms. He holds a large kantharos and a kerykeion (herald's wand) in his forward hand, and a small

oinochoe An oenochoe, also spelled ''oinochoe'' (; from , ''oînos'', "wine", and , ''khéō'', , sense "wine pourer"; : ''oinochoai''; Neo-Latin: ''oenochoë'', : ''oenochoae''; English : oenochoes or oinochoes), is a wine jug and a key form of ancient G ...

in his hand which he swings behind him. He is dressed in a short

tunic A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...

and

chlamys The chlamys (; genitive: ) was a type of ancient Greek cloak. It was worn by men for military and hunting purposes during the Classical, Hellenistic and later periods. By the time of the Byzantine Empire it was part of the state costume of the ...

, and wears a winged cap and winged boots. A

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. ...

stands in front of him facing right, his head turned to the left. He is holding a

barbiton The barbiton, or barbitos (Greek language, Gr: wikt:βάρβιτον, or wikt:βάρβιτος, ; Latin, Lat. ''barbitus''), is an ancient stringed instrument related to the lyre known from Greek literature, Greek and Ancient Rome, Roman classic ...

(

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

) in one arm, his fingers splayed across the strings. In his other hand, held out behind him, he holds the end of a string attached to the lyre. He has a long beard and wears a wreath, and his right leg is shown in three-quarters view. A fawn stands between the two figures, its head gracefully turned up. The figures are carefully superimposed on one another, forming a unified contour isolated against the black background of the vase. Side B: Satyr. A satyr stands to the right, holding a large kantharos and a lyre. The kantharos is raised to his lips, while he holds the lyre at his side, his fingers touching the stings. His long hair is tied at his neck and he wears a wreath. Above the scene is a carefully drawn band of ivy leaves and grape bunches; below, forming a groundline but not extending all the way around the vase, is a running spiral, a rare pattern ornament in Attic Red Figure vase paintings.

Kithara Player at the Met

A masterpiece of Greek vase painting is the

kithara The kithara (), Latinized as cithara, was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the yoke lutes family. It was a seven-stringed professional version of the lyre, which was regarded as a rustic, or folk instrument, appropriate for teaching mu ...

player and singer attributed to the Berlin Painter and held at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. On the obverse, a singer tilts his head back and sings. He wears a crown of laurel leaves, and so has just won a musical competition. The amphora filled with wine or olive oil may have been the prize. The curve of the instrument mimics the curve of the vase, and the fabric seems to undulate with the music. On the reverse is a judge or trainer. It is dated to 490 BC, the same time as the

Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens (polis), Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Achaemenid Empire, Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaph ...

Notes

References

Sources

Artcyclopedia - Berlin Painter
Present and former whereabouts of the vases attributed to the Berlin Painter.
Perseus Project: "Thirty-three Vases whose Painter is 'Berlin Painter'"
*Martin Robertson. ''The Art of Vase-Painting in Classical Athens''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. (). *Andrew J. Clark, Maya Elston, and Mary Louise Hart. ''Understanding Greek Vases: A Guide to Terms, Styles, and Techniques''. Getty Museum Publications, 2002. *Donna Carol Kurtz (editor). ''The Berlin Painter: Drawings by Sir John Beazley''. Oxford Monographs on Classical Archaeology, 1983. *J. Michael Padgett (editor). ''The Berlin Painter and his World: Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century B.C.'' Princeton/New Haven 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin Painter 5th-century BC deaths Ancient Greek vase painters Anonymous artists of antiquity People from Attica Year of birth unknown