The Dipylon Master was an

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

vase painter who was active from around 760–750 BC. He worked in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, where he and his workshop produced large funerary vessels for those interred in the

Dipylon Gate The Dipylon (, "Two-Gated") was the main gate in the city wall of Classical Athens. Located in the modern suburb of Kerameikos, it led to the namesake ancient cemetery, and to the roads connecting Athens with the rest of Greece. The gate was of m ...

cemetery, whence his name comes. His work belongs to the very late stage of the

Geometric Style Geometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterized largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages and a little later, . Its center was in Athens, and from there the style spread among the ...

. His vases served as grave markers and

libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...

receptacles for aristocratic graves and as such are decorated with a depiction of the prothesis scene representing the mourning of the deceased. Almost 50 vases have been attributed to the Dipylon Master and his workshop. Examples include the Dipylon Amphora in

National Archaeological Museum, Athens The National Archaeological Museum () in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and ...

, and the Elgin Amphora in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

.British Museum Collection
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References and sources

;References ;Sources *Roisman, Joseph, and translated by J.C Yardley, ''Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexander'' (Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2011) *Boardman, J. ''Early Greek Vase Painting: 11th–6th Centuries BC: A Handbook (World of Art)''. London: Thames and Hudson Publishing, May 1998. ().

External links

* 8th-century BC Greek people Ancient Greek vase painters Anonymous artists of antiquity Ancient Athenians Year of birth unknown 8th-century BC painters {{Greece-bio-stub

See also

References and sources

External links