History of Western Paintings - V - Ancient Greece (Part Four)
The human form in art was infused with realism; the musculature was carefully modelled, movement was implied and drapery fell naturally over the body. This realism encompassed an ideal of humanity that resulted in dignified, confident, emotionally restrained, and rational expressions and postures. Painting at this time also reached great new heights, primarily in the form of wall and panel painting, virtually none of which survives. Vase painting, especially the red-figure style, continued, although it had reached its heyday during the Archaic period. Interestingly, the painters of late fifth century red figure vases seem to have been influenced by large scale painting, with mixed results. The compositions become complex and crowded, better suited to a flat wall or panel, while the Archaic harmony between the painted figures and the curved shapes of the vases is no longer as successfully achieved. Furthermore, vase painting is not conducive to the depiction of light and shadow or to the creation of the illusion of space receding into the distance, both advanced techniques in Greek wall paintings of this period.
Banqueting Scene, a Guest Reclines on a Coach Lsitening to a Musician Play the Double-Flute. 460-450 B.C.
Centre medallion of a red figured cup. Musee du Louvre, Paris
The youthful flute player, rendered in full profile (including the eye), is successfully depicted occupying space and stands with his weight concentrated on his right leg. The Greek artist’s keen interest in the rendering of the human form is clear here. Compare this figure with painted depictions of Egyptian pharaohs, with their awkward combined frontal-profile forms and rigid stances. Thin, black lines delineate musculature and drapery folds in this banqueting scene. The reclining figure holds a kylix, or drinking cup, similiar to the one which this image decorates.
It is, however, during the Classical period that white-ground vases became more popular. In this style, either the red-figure or black-figure technique served to decorate a white ground; in addition, artists employed tempera paint. Tempera allowed for a wider range of colours, but the tempera additions, unfortunately, often have not survived, given their tendency to flake off. The lekythos painted with a scene of a warrior taking leave of his wife was probably made to be placed either in or on a tomb. The graceful figures on this vase magnificently display the “noble simplicity and quiet grandeur” that the German scholar Johann Joachim Winckelmann considered to be characteristic of High Classical Greek art.
Achilles Painter. Warrior Taking Leave of His Wife. 440 B.C.
Eretria. Atiic white-ground lekythos. Height: approx. 17″ (43cm). National Archaeological Museum, Athens
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