Squatting warrior Staatliche Antikensammlungen 8966

The C Painter was one of the most important

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. His works date to ''circa'' 575–550 BC. His conventional name was allocated by the archaeologist

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 Un ...

. The C stands for "Corinthianising", a reference to the strong influence of Corinthian vase painting on the artist. He was successor to the

Comast Group The Comast Group (also Komast Group) was a group of Attic vase painters in the black-figure style. The works of its members are dated to between 585 and 570/560 BC. The artists of the Komast Group are seen as the successors of the Gorgon Painter ...

and used the relatively old-fashioned range of vessel shapes preferred by that group, including '' lekanis'', tripod ''kothon'' and ''

skyphos A ''skyphos'' ( grc, σκύφος; plural ''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 m ...

''. In contrast, he also painted quite innovative ''

lekythoi A lekythos (plural lekythoi) is a type of ancient Greek vessel used for storing oil (Greek λήκυθος), especially olive oil. It has a narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel, and is thus a narrow type of jug, with no pou ...

'' with pronounced shoulders, although the more conservative ''Deinaeira'' type was still in use by some workshops at his time. The C Painter was the first Attic vase painter to paint cups without an offset lip, the

Merrythought cup The term Merrythought cup is used by scholars to describe a specific type of 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 ''s ...

As indicated by his conventional name, the C Painter followed Corinthian precedents. He painted duelling warriors, horsemen, symposiasts, and komasts. He followed the Corinthian habit of adding white paint for details, but used the Attic technique of doing so: the white paint was added onto the black slip, rather than directly to the base clay. His mythological images represent a departure from Corinthian precedents. He painted them in elongated friezes, resembling the work of the Gorgon Painter or

Kleitias Kleitias (Greek: Κλειτίας, sometimes rendered as Klitias) was an ancient Athenian vase painter of the black-figure style who flourished c. 570–560 BCE. Kleitias' most celebrated work today is the François Vase (c. 570 BCE), which bears ...

. His powerful figures are carefully painted, often with a somewhat enlarged head. A characteristic feature of his work are animal heads used as shield emblazonments. Especially important is his work as a painter of Siana cups. He is considered the earliest and best painter of that shape. Probably towards the end of his career, his workshop produced cups resembling the later

lip cup Lip cups are a type of ancient Greek Attic Little-master cups. Lip cups were produced from the middle of the sixth century BC in Athens. They resemble Gordion cups, but their lips or rims were more clearly distinguished from the rest of the body. ...

s. His most famous work is the lid of a '' lekanis'', now on display in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

. It bears the earliest known depiction of the death of

Astyanax In Greek mythology, Astyanax (; grc, Ἀστυάναξ ''Astyánax'', "lord of the city") was the son of Hector, the crown prince of Troy, and his wife, Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe."Astyanax". ''Oxford Classical Dictionary''. Oxford, ...

. One vase by the C painter bears the remainder of an inscription: ''…eiron epoie'' (..eiron made it), suggesting that his real name was Cheiron or Pheiron.

Bibliography

: ''Attic Black-figure Vase-painters''. Oxford 1956, p. * John Boardman: ''Schwarzfigurige Vasen aus Athen. Ein Handbuch'', von Zabern, 4. edn, Mainz 1994 (Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt, Vol 1) , p. 35f. *

Thomas Mannack Thomas Mannack (born in 1958) is a German classical archaeologist. Mannack obtained his Doctorate in 1992 with at the University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-U ...

: ''Griechische Vasenmalerei. Eine Einführung''. Theiss, Stuttgart 2002 , p. 109f. {{DEFAULTSORT:C Painter Ancient Greek vase painters