In terms of both quantity and quality, red-figure pottery was the Kerameikos' most important product. Not all the devastation of the Persian wars could disrupt the continuity of the Archaic tradition. The same painters and potters went on producing their work. With choice of subject, and with expressive and technical objectives, however, it was a different story: a new phase began straight after 'the Persian business'. This period can be thought of as the upper limit of early Classical vase-painting. From the middle years of the 5th century up until 420 B.C., vase-painting went hand in hand with Athens' prosperity, absorbing the influence of the sculptures of the Parthenon.

For red-figure pottery, this is the period usually termed Classical. Despite having the same name, we should not confuse it with the Classical age as a whole, which runs from the Persian Wars to Alexander the Great. Some of the most important vase-painters of this period were working simultaneously in the red-figure and the white ground techniques. Towards the end of the 5th century, a more and more obvious interest in form, composition and decoration makes itself felt. This new trend is called the Rich (or Ornate) style. It lasted until about 390 B.C. Some of its features were to survive throughout the first third of the 4th century B.C. What one notices about Late Classical vase-painting is 1) obvious falling-off in quality and execution, and 2) insistence on manneristic repetition of the same old themes. And so red-figure ended on a downbeat note, in about 320 B.C.

The major vase-painters - the ones we (sometimes) know the actual names of because they signed their pots - were not the only ones. Work was farmed out to apprentices, schools, groups and circles. Sometimes there was a high degree of 'specialization'. We can speak of 'farming out' because there are certain details, particularly anatomical, that we see steadily being repeated - the painter's "fingerprint". This was the method developed by Beazley as a variant on one used by Morelli to study Renaissance art: Beazley adapted it to the needs of ceramics. The appellation by which we now know a vase-painter is seldom his real one. More often he takes the name of the potter he worked with, since the latter did sign his work. (Thus for example we speak of 'the Sotades Painter'). In other cases the vase-painter's appellation derives from the place where an important work of his was found or is now kept. (Thus for example we speak of 'the Eretria Painter' or 'the Munich 2413 Painter'). Lastly, a large number of vase-painters have been called after the shape of a particular pot or the scene on it. (Thus for example we speak of 'the Phiale Painter' or 'the Talos Painter').


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