Inscription painter (Chalcidian vase painter)

Hydria of the inscription painter in the State Collection of Antiquities in Munich : Peleus and Atalante wrestle at the funeral games for King Pelias . In the background the battle prize: the skin and head of the Calydonian boar .

With the emergency name Inscription painter (English Inscription painter ) a Greek vase painter is referred to, who is considered to be one of the two main representatives of Chalcidian vase painting and whose works date from 560 to 540 BC. To be dated.

Neck amphora depicting Odysseus , who assaults and kills Diomedes in his sleep; around 540 BC Chr .; J. Paul Getty Museum .

The inscription painter is considered to be one of the founders of Chalcidian vase painting. It was named after the many inscriptions with which he had referred to the mythological figures he painted. He mainly painted larger vessels such as amphorae , hydrates and craters (so-called Chalcidian craters ), but also bowls and oinochoes in a powerful, supple style. He especially likes to show pictures from the Trojan sagas , as well as Bellerophon , Perseus , Zeus and Typhon as well as Heracles and Geryoneus . The inscription painter drew half of all the mythical pictures of the Chalcidian vase painting. In addition, he shows satyrs and maenads , which were often related to equestrian or animal friezes. He shows his satyrs in the Ionian tradition with horses' hooves, the dances appear realistic, not overdrawn. The images were often arranged heraldically around a plant ornament. The artist, who was probably also the potter of his vessels, has so far been ascribed around 50 works, most of which were found in Vulci and Reggio di Calabria .

John Boardman ranks the artist among the best vase painters of his time, on a par with the best Attic vase painters of his generation. He was followed by the Phineus painter , with whom the style came to an end again. He is not to be confused with the Attic inscription painter of the same name in the red-figure style .

literature

• Andreas Rumpf : Chalcidian vases. de Gruyter, Berlin 1927.
• Mario Iozzo : Ceramica “Calcidese”. Nuovi documenti e problemi riproposti . Rome 1994, pp. 15-31.
• Matthias Steinhart : Inscription Painter. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 5, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01475-4 , Sp. 1017 f.
• John Boardman : Early Greek Vase Painting. 11th - 6th Century BC. A Handbook (= World of Art ). Thames and Hudson, London 1998, ISBN 0-500-20309-1 , pp. 217-219.
• Thomas Mannack : Greek vase painting. An introduction . Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8062-1743-2 , p. 130.

Web links

Commons : Inscriptions Painter  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• The Inscription Painter at the J. Paul Getty Museum (English)