The Dinos of the Gorgon Painter (French: Dinos du Peintre de la Gorgone) is an important example of ancient Greek pottery, produced at Athens around 580 BC. It entered the Louvre's collection in 1861, with the purchase of Giampietro Campana's collection (Inv. E 874).
This masterpiece, which is decorated with Gorgons, is the source of the name the anonymous painter who decorated it and is therefore known as the Gorgon Painter.[1]
Origin
The dinos, a banqueting vessel of large dimensions in which water was mixed into the wine, consisted of two parts: the bowl and the stand for it to rest on. The whole ensemble only rarely survives, but is the inspiration for examples in bronze which are encountered more often. While there is no doubt that this example was made in an Athenian workshop, the location of its discovery remains uncertain, though the fact that it was in Campana's collection suggests that it was acquired in clandestine excavations in Etruria. It is very unlikely that it was discovered in Greece.
Painted decoration
Detail: upper register, Perseus pursued by the GorgonDetail: upper register, a winged Gorgon
The ceramic ensemble is decorated in the black-figure style, with ochre highlights and incisions outlining the images. The greater part of the decoration is made up of a palmette frieze with intertwined animals in the Corinthian tradition. The well-shaped stand is covered in friezes showing many different animals, like lions, cows, deer, along with fantastic creatures like sirens and sphinxes.
The vase itself is decorated with three registers, one on top of the other. The lowest register begins with a spiral on the rounded bottom of the vase and develops into four rows of animals, while the central register is a band of interlaced palmettes. The uppermost register, the most interesting, is the earliest known example in archaic Greek pottery of an entirely figurative and narrative frieze. It depicts a scene from Greek mythology: Perseus fleeing the Gorgons after he killed their sister, Medusa. The other two figures in the scene are Hermes, who can be identified by his petasos hat, and a woman who is presumably Athena. On the other side, there is a battle scene between several hoplites in chariots.
The artist who decorated the vase, whose name is not known, was a student of the Nessos Painter, the most ancient representative of the Attic black figure tradition. According to Martine Denoyelles, he also got the Gorgon theme from the Nessos Painter, but "with this entirely narrative frieze, stripped of all decorative elements, the Gorgon painter announce the blooming of Attic production, which increasingly disengaged itself from Corinthian influence in the second quarter of the sixth century BC.[2]
Other ancient dinoi
The British Museum possesses two remarkable dinoi of the painter and potter Sophilos, who was the first Attic potter to sign his works. On the stands of these two dinoi, c. 580 BC, the marriage of Peleus and Thetis is depicted in black-figure style. These examples show the same Corinthian influence which is found on the works of the Gorgon Painter in his decoration of the vases with various kinds of animals. However, the stands are much larger and the vases are proportionately much smaller.[3]
Notes
↑ It was John Beazley (1885-1970), art historian and pioneer of the study of Greek pottery who first used this name.
↑ Martine Denoyelles, Chefs-d'œuvre de la céramique grecque dans les collections du Louvre, Éd. de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1994, p.58.
Pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it, it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society. The shards of pots discarded or buried in the 1st millennium BC are still the best guide available to understand the customary life and mind of the ancient Greeks. There were several vessels produced locally for everyday and kitchen use, yet finer pottery from regions such as Attica was imported by other civilizations throughout the Mediterranean, such as the Etruscans in Italy. There were a multitude of specific regional varieties, such as the South Italian ancient Greek pottery.
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic, 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 specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BCE. Stylistically it can be distinguished from the preceding orientalizing period and the subsequent red-figure pottery style.
Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting.
Sophilos was an Attic potter and vase painter in the black-figure style. Sophilos is the oldest Attic vase painter so far to be known by his true name. Fragments of two wine basins (dinoi) in Athens are signed by him, indicating that he both potted and painted them. In total, 37 vessels are ascribed to him, mostly amphorae, dinoi, kraters, as well as three pinakes. Apart from his work for the domestic market, he was also one of the masters of major significance in the process of supplanting the dominance of Corinthian vase painting in the markets of Etruria, and Southern Italy, the most important export area for Greek vases. His works were exported as far as the Black Sea region, Syria and Egypt (Naukratis).
Lydos was an Attic vase painter in the black-figure style. Active between about 560 and 540 BC, he was the main representative of the '’’Lydos Group’’’. His signature, ό Λυδός, ho Lydos ", inscribed on two vases, is informative regarding the cultural background of the artist. Either he immigrated to Athens from the Lydian empire of King Kroisos, or he was born in Athens as the son of Lydian parents. In any case, he learned his trade in Athens.
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. The Nessos Painter is often known to be one of the original painters of black-figure. He only worked in this style, which is shown on his name vase in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Most of the known Nessos Painter ceramics were found in funerary settings such as cemeteries and mortuaries.
The Amasis Painter was an ancient Greek vase painter who worked in the black-figure technique. He owes his name to the signature of the potter Amasis, who signed twelve works painted by the same hand. At the time of the exhibition, "The Amasis Painter and His World" (1985), 132 vases had been attributed to this artist.
The Piraeus Painter was one of the first Attic black-figure vase painters. He was active between 630 and 600 BC.
The Cerameicus Painter was one of the first Attic black-figure vase painters. He was active around 600 BC.
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 KX Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter. He was active between 585 and 570 BC. Besides the KY Painter, the KX Painter was the main representative of the Comast Group, which succeeded the Gorgon Painter. His conventional name was allocated by John Beazley. He is considered the better and chronologically somewhat earlier representative of the group. He was the first painter in Athens to occasionally depict komasts on his vases, a motif adopted from Corinthian vase painting. He mainly painted skyphoi, lekanes, kothones and Komast cups. In contrast to later representatives of the group, he still mostly painted animals, in a more careful and powerful style than the Gorgon Painter. Some mythological scenes by him are also known. Especially famous are his small-fornat mythical scenes placed within animal friezes. The KX Painter can be considered the first Attic painter to achieve a quality at par with that reached in Corinth, then the dominant centre of Greek vase painting. Imitations of his works are known from Boeotia.
The Panther Painter was a vase painter of the Attic black-figure style. He was probably active at the same time as the Nessos Painter, or shortly thereafter. Both shared a predilection for interlace patterns. The Panther Painter's vases have so far only been found in Attica, but outside Athens, at Vari. It is therefore assumed that he did not live and work in Athens, but only produced for a small local market in Attica. He mainly painted lekanis with animal friezes.
The Polos Painter was a vase painter of the Attic black-figure style. His works date to c. 575 to 565 BC.
Nearchos was an Attic potter and vase painter of the black figure style, active in Athens c. 570 to 555 BC.
The Painter of Acropolis 606 was a black-figure vase painter, active around 570–560 BC.
The C Painter was one of the most important Attic black-figure vase painters. His works date to circa 575–550 BC. His conventional name was allocated by the archaeologist John Beazley. 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 and used the relatively old-fashioned range of vessel shapes preferred by that group, including lekanis, tripod kothon and skyphos. In contrast, he also painted quite innovative lekythoi 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 Tyrrhenian amphora is a specific shape of Attic black-figure neck amphora. Tyrrhenian amphorae were only produced during a short period, about 565 to 550 BC. They are ovoid in shape and bear striking decorations. The handle is usually decorated with a lotus-palmette cross or vegetal tendrils. It always terminates in a red-painted ridge. The vase body is painted with several friezes. The uppermost of these, on the shoulder, is usually especially notable. It often contains mythological scenes, but the first erotic motifs in Attic vase painting also occur here. Unique motifs include the sacrifice of Polyxena. Often, the figures are explained by added inscriptions. The other friezes, usually two to three in number, are often decorated with animals. At times, a frieze is replaced with a vegetal band.
Chalcidian pottery is an important style of Western Greek black-figure vase painting.
The hoplites were soldiers from Ancient Greece who were usually free citizens. They had a very uniform and distinct appearance; specifically they were armed with a spear (dory) in their right hand and a heavy round shield in their left.
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