Athena Herakles Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2301 B full

Bilingual vase painting is a special form of ancient Greek vase painting. The term, derived from

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...

, is essentially a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

ical one; it describes vases that are painted both in 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 ...

and in the

red-figure 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 va ...

techniques. It also describes the transitional period when black-figure was being gradually replaced in dominance by red-figure, basically the last quarter of the 6th and the very beginning of the 5th century BC. Their appearance may be due to the initial uncertainty of the market for the new red-figure style, although that style subsequently became dominant rather fast. Athena Herakles Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2301 A full

Athena Herakles Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2301 A full

History

Bilingual vase painting was almost entirely restricted to

belly amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

e of type B and to

eye-cup Eye-cup is the term describing a specific cup type in ancient Greek pottery, distinguished by pairs of eyes painted on the external surface. Description Classified as '' kylikes'' in terms of shape, eye-cups were especially widespread in Ath ...

s. In some cases, either side of an amphora bore a depiction of the same motif, one in black-figure, the other in red-figure (e.g. on the

by the

Andokides Painter Andokides was an ancient Athenian vase painter, active from approximately 530 to 515 B.C. His work is unsigned and his true name unknown. He was identified as a unique artistic personality through stylistic traits found in common among several pai ...

, Munich 2301). Eye-cups usually feature a black-figure image on the interior, and red-figure motifs on the external surface. An exception to this is a '' kylix'' by the Andokides Painter in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

,Archaeological Museum, Inv. V 650 on which the exterior is painted half in black-figure and half in red-figure. Apart from the

, bilingual works were produced primarily by

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 ...

(especially belly amphorae), as well as by

Epiktetos Epiktetos was an Attic vase painter in the early red-figure style. Besides Oltos, he was the most important painter of the Pioneer Group. He was active between 520 BC and 490 BC. His name translates as "newly acquired", which is most probably a ...

and

Oltos Oltos was a Late Archaic Greek vase painter, active in Athens from 525 BC to 500 BC. About 150 works by him are known. Two pieces, a cup in Berlin (Antikensammlung F 2264) and a cup in Tarquinia (Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese RC 6848), are sign ...

(eye-cups). Usually, both paintings (in both styles) on one vase are produced by the same artist. In some cases, however, this is controversial. This applies especially to the Andokides Painter, whose black-figure work is ascribed by some scholars to the Lysippides Painter, who, in turn, is sometimes seen as identical with the Andokides Painter.

Bibliography

* Irma Wehgartner: ''Bilingue Vasen'', in '' Der Neue Pauly'' Vol. 2 (1997), Col. 677

Other examples

Andocides painter 530 BC. Black figure side of "Bilingual" vase: Athena and Herakles.Lysippides painter 530 BC. Black figure side of "Bilingual" vase: Herakles & sacrificial bull.

References

{{Greek vase painting Ancient Greek vase-painting styles Archaic Greek art Attic pottery