The Pistoxenos Painter was an important

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 of the Classical period. He was active 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 ...

between c. 480 and 460 BC. Many vases have been attributed to his hand on the basis of style. Aphrodite swan BM D2

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 ...

gave him the

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

from a ''

skyphos A skyphos (; : skyphoi) is a two-handled deep wine-cup on a low flanged base or none. The handles may be horizontal ear-shaped thumbholds that project from the rim (in both Corinthian and Athenian shapes), or they may be loop handles at the rim ...

'' now at

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

with a signature indicating that it was made by the potter Pistoxenos.British Museum : Pistoxenos Painter Biographical details
/ref> It depicts Iphikles being taught music by Linos, and

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

accompanied by his tattooed

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

servant Geropso. The Pistoxenos Painter probably started his apprenticeship under the

Antiphon Painter The Antiphon Painter () is the Notname for an Athenian red-figure vase-painter active in ancient Greece during the early 5th century BC. He owes his name to a double Kalos inscription of Antiphon on the dinos stand in the Antique collection of ...

in the workshop of

Euphronios Euphronios (; c. 535 – after 470 BC) was an ancient Greek vase painter and potter, active in Athens in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. As part of the so-called " Pioneer Group," (a modern name given to a group of vase painters who we ...

. He specialized in '' kylikes'', which he painted in the

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 ...

style, bringing "the delicacy of Late Archaic vase-painting into the Early Classical style". Some of his best pieces, however, were produced in the

white ground technique White-ground technique is a style of white ancient Greek pottery and the painting in which figures appear on a white background. It developed in the region of Attica, dated to about 500 BC. It was especially associated with vases made for ritu ...

. The most important motifs of his paintings are horses, warriors and '' thiasos'' imagery. He was one of the first painters to employ four-colour polychromy, using

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, paints and gilding. This style often resembles monumental painting. In his later works he grew so skillful that he could omit the "relief line". Stylistically, he is close to the Penthesilea Painter. His ''kalos'' inscriptions refer to the names Lysis, Glaukon and Megakles.

References

External links

Bybax cup at the Beazley Archive
{{Authority control 5th-century BC deaths 5th-century BC Greek people Ancient Greek vase painters Anonymous artists of antiquity Ancient Athenians Year of birth unknown