268 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Deoembee 1, 1898. 



It is true that we only possess a very few vases with 

 designs in colours on a white ground ; but such as we have 

 are of such exceptional excellence that we are fully justified 

 in seeing in them the best results of the influence of which 

 we have spoken. In this connection we may note that 

 there is evidence that at one time it was the practice to 

 paint tombstones (sieta,) with the clligy of the dead person 

 in colours on a white slip, and we shall see later on that 

 this method was by the middle of the fifth century almost 

 exclusively adopted for a class of vases destined particularly 

 for sepulchral purposes. 



We now first find attempts to render the human body in 

 positions other than purely profile, and to throw ofl' the 

 trammels of conventional archaism (such as that of Egypt), 

 which forbade to render the chest and shoulders in profile 

 or the face and limbs in front view. Thus the way is 

 prepared for the development of perspective and fore- 

 shortening, which tends, as we have seen above, to the 

 rapid perfecting of linear drawing, as exemplified in the 

 vases of the latter half of this century. 



Another circumstance which led, as in the case of 

 sculpture, to a greater facility in rendering the human 

 figure, was the growing familiarity with the perfections of 

 nude male forms brought about by the increased popularity 

 of the Olympian and other games. The prevailing tone 

 of the subjects on the vases is no longer now mythological, 

 but the iphehos, or full-grown youth, that peculiarly Attic 

 creation, reigus everywhere supreme. 



It may be convenient to pause here for a moment, and 

 note the various stages of development through which the 

 red-figure style passed. (1) The archaic shows all the 

 stiffaess and want of technical freedom characteristic of 

 the last stage. (2) The severe style shows a marked atten- 

 tion to detail and greater technical freedom, but not as yet 

 without stiffness. (3) The f/ood period has several sub- 

 divisions : [a) the stroni/ style, dry and vigorous, delighting 

 in difficult subjects : (/<) the larije style, aiming chiefly at 

 breadth of effect and dignity of composition ; and (c) the 

 fine style, showing the perfection both of technique and 

 composition. (4) Finally we have the late line style, 

 introducing mannerisms and refinements, which tend to 

 nothing more than pictorial prettiness, and degenerate 

 into merely careleas and florid work which at last fails to 

 arouse any interest. 



The shapes of the vases are, roughly speaking, the same 

 as those of the last period, but certain developments 

 of form can be traced, and some shapes are more in 

 demand at certain stages. For the first half of the 

 century the most characteristic form is the kylix or two- 

 handled cup, with wide shallow bowl on a high stem. 

 Another important shape is the hydria or three-handled 

 pitcher, which exchanges its somewhat angular outline and 

 flat shoulder for a gracefully curved form, in which the 

 neck merges in the shoulder, and that again in the body, 

 making one single curve throughout. Instead of two 

 subjects, as in the last period, we now only have a group 

 of two or three figures on the body. The amphora loses 

 much of its popularity, with the exception of some early 

 examples which reproduce the character of the black- 

 figured amphonu ; but a new and very charming variety 

 appears. This is known as the Nolan amphora, from the 

 fact that it appears to have been a popular shape with the 

 inhabitants of Nola in Campania, as many examples have 

 been found there, imported from Greece. Its characteristics 

 are : a slim body and long neck, handles reeded and often 

 twisted, a very fine and lustrous black glaze, and a design 

 confined to one or at most two figures on either side. 

 A second popular variety of the amphora is the pelike, in 

 which the foot disappears, and the body swells out from 



the handles downwards, with a somewhat clumsy effect. 

 Another characteristic shape of this period is the stamnns, 

 a wide-necked full-bodied jar with small side handles, 

 which only found favour for a short period, but that the 

 time of the best artists. 



In the later stage of the red-figure style the larger and 

 bolder varieties apppar to be discarded in favour of small 



KiG. 2. — Lekytlios (Oil-Flask), with Polychrome Figures on White 

 Ground ; made for use at a Funeral. Subi'ect : the Deceased Person 

 at her Toilet. 



and elegant shapes, among which we may mention the 

 artjhaUoK or lekijthnti with globular body ; the py-t'is, a 

 cylindrical box with cover ; and the askos, a small oil-flask 

 with handle and spout, which did not afford much scope for 

 decoration. But the aryballos and pyxis {see Plate, No. 6) 

 supply some of the finest examples of the "late fine" 

 period, even though the subjects are sometimes fanciful or 

 the drawing over-refined ; moreover, considerable effect is 

 gaioed by the judicious addition of gilding, white or blue, 

 and other colours. 



The subjects on red-figured vases may not, perhaps, be 

 regarded as so varied or interesting as those on the black- 

 figured, but still are worthy of all attention. At the very 

 outset we see a tendency towards scenes of real life, instead 

 of the old mythological repertoire. At the same time, 

 scenes from epic legend and mythology hold their own 

 with almost as much variety as before, but it is remarkable 

 to note how the well-worn types, which we discussed in the 

 last paper, are promptly discarded, and how, with his new- 

 born capacities of drawing and free scope for composition, 

 the painter is led to form his own idea of the subject he 

 wishes to depict, without regard to the lines on which his 

 predecessors worked. In the next stage, or " strong " 

 style, the patriotism of the Athenian artist finds expression 

 in the growing imporiance which he attaches to purely 



