Dipylon painter

The Dipylon painter was an Attic - late Geometric vase painter and perhaps also a potter.

So-called dipylon amphora

The Dipylon painter is considered one of the most important geometric vase painters and headed a workshop ( Dipylon workshop ). He is considered the inventor of the style in the classical archeology as a Late Geometric is called. His works are dated between 760 and 750 BC. Dated. The unknown artist got his emergency name after a grave amphora ( dipylon amphora ) which was 1.62 meters high and was found at the Dipylon gate of Kerameikos in Athens .

Prosthesis on a crater in the Louvre

The Dipylon painter was the first artist of the geometric style to place the main frieze of the vases in a framed field that was placed between the handles. The main theme was designed figuratively, which made it possible to differentiate between different artists. The Dipylon painter is thus one of the earliest identifiable artists. His figures are larger and slimmer than the figures of the Middle Geometric period. The ornaments that cover the neck and body of the vases are of particular quality. He seems to have invented the double meander , which was first used on his vases. He also introduced the use of two animal friezes on the neck of his amphorae. They are borrowed from oriental models and possibly imitate gold ribbons.

Ekphora. Fragment of a crater in the Louvre

The workshop specialized in the production of monumental amphorae for women and craters for men’s graves. In the Dipylon workshop, large jugs and oinochoes were produced for the first time . In addition, some of the last belly-handle amphoras were produced in the workshop . Some of his vases were decorated with up to 100 figures. Most vases show the prothesis (laying out of the dead), rarely the ekphora (procession to the grave). Warrior and chariot processions as well as land and sea battles were also depicted. The opposing parties can be distinguished by their shields. The opponents wear rectangular shields, dipylon shields or are shieldless. Although these are not new motifs, the Dipylon painter presented them for the first time in a special size.

In other languages the painter is called a master , for example in the English Dipylon Master or Maître du Dipylon in French. In German, a sculptor is usually referred to as a Dipylon master .

literature

Thomas Mannack : Greek vase painting. An introduction , Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, pp. 75f. ISBN 3-8062-1743-2
John Nicolas Coldstream : Greek Geometric Pottery: a Survey of Ten Local Styles and their Chronology. Methuen, London 1968. 2nd revised edition. Bristol Phoenix Press, 2008, ISBN 1904675816 .

Web links

Commons : Dipylon Master - collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Dipylon painter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Greek vase painter
DATE OF BIRTH	9th century BC BC or 8th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	8th century BC Chr.