The Piraeus Painter was one of the first

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

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 ...

vase painters. He was active between 630 and 600 BC. The Piraeus Painter was a contemporary of the

Nessos Painter The Nessos Painter, also known as Netos or Nettos Painter, was a pioneer of Attic black-figure vase painting. He is considered to be the first Athenian to adopt the Corinthian style who went on to develop his own style and introduced innovations ...

, whose importance and artistic class he did not reach. His name vase, a neck amphora 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 ...

, National Archaeological Museum 353, was found at

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

. The most noteworthy feature of that vase is the snout of the depicted lion, stylised into the shape of a volute. Images of lions were quite popular at the time, as in the works of the

Lion Painter The Lion Painter was one of the earliest Athens black-figure vase painters. He was active between 630 and 600 BC. He was a contemporary of the Nessos Painter, but remained a less significant influence, in spite of his artistic achievements. All v ...

and the

Gorgon Painter The Gorgon Painter was one of the early Attic black-figure vase painters. He was active between 600 and 580 BC. His name vase, ''Dinos of the Gorgon Painter'', is currently on display in the Louvre and depicts Perseus fleeing the Gorgons. The Go ...

. Except his animal figures, which display a safe intuition for design and proportions, his other figures appear very stiff and awkward.

Bibliography

* John Beazley: ''Attic Black-figure Vase-painters''. Oxford 1956, p. 2-3. * John Boardman: ''Schwarzfigurige Vasen aus Athen. Ein Handbuch'', von Zabern, 4. Edn., Mainz 1994 (Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt, Vol 1) , p. 18. {{DEFAULTSORT:Piraeus Painter 7th-century BC births 600s BC deaths Year of death unknown Ancient Greek vase painters 7th-century BC Greek people