Euphronios was an ancient Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 vase painter and potter, active in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. As part of the so-called "Pioneer Group

Pioneer Group

The Pioneer Group were a number of red-figure vase painters working in Kerameikos or the potters' quarter of Athens around the beginning of the 5th century BCE. Characterized by John Boardman as perhaps the first conscious art movement in the western tradition, the group comprised the painters...

," ( a modern name given to a group of vase painters who were instrumental in effecting the change from Black-figure pottery

Black-figure pottery

Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic is one of the most modern styles for adorning antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, although there are specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BC...

 to Red figure

Red-figure pottery

Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 530 BC and remained in use until the late 3rd century BC. It replaced the previously dominant style of Black-figure vase painting within a few decades...

). Euphronios was one of the most important artists of the red-figure

Red-figure pottery

Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 530 BC and remained in use until the late 3rd century BC. It replaced the previously dominant style of Black-figure vase painting within a few decades...

 technique. His works place him at the transition from Late Archaic to Early Classical

Classical Greece

Classical Greece was a 200 year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through 4th centuries BC. This classical period had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundation of Western civilizations. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, such as...

 art.

The discovery of Greek vase painters

In contrast to other artists, such as sculptors, no Ancient Greek literature

Ancient Greek literature

Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in the Ancient Greek language until the 4th century.- Classical and Pre-Classical Antiquity :...

 sources refer specifically to vase painters. The copious literary tradition on the arts hardly mention pottery. Thus reconstruction of Euphronios's life and artistic development—like that of all Greek vase painters—can only be derived from his works.

Modern scientific study of Greek pottery began near the end of the 18th century. Initially, interest focused on iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

. The discovery of the first signature of Euphronios in 1838 revealed that individual painters could be identified and named, so that their works might be ascribed to them. This led to an intensive study of painters' signatures, and by the late 19th century, scholars began to compile stylistic compendia.

The archaeologist John D. Beazley

John Beazley

Sir John Davidson Beazley was an English classical scholar.Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Beazley attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a close friend of the poet James Elroy Flecker. After graduating in 1907, Beazley was a student and tutor in Classics at Christ Church, and in 1925 he...

 used these compendia as a starting point for his own work. He systematically described and catalogued thousands of Attic black-figure

Black-figure pottery

Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic is one of the most modern styles for adorning antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, although there are specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BC...

 and red-figure

Red-figure pottery

Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 530 BC and remained in use until the late 3rd century BC. It replaced the previously dominant style of Black-figure vase painting within a few decades...

 vases and sherds, using the methods of the art historian Giovanni Morelli

Giovanni Morelli

Giovanni Morelli was an Italian art critic and political figure. As an art historian, he developed the "Morellian" technique of scholarship, identifying the characteristic "hands" of painters through scrutiny of diagnostic minor details that revealed artists' scarcely conscious shorthand and...

 for the study of paintings. In three key volumes on Attic painters, Beazley achieved a taxonomy that remains mostly valid to this day. He listed all known painters (named or unnamed) who produced individual works of art which can always be unmistakably ascribed. Today, most painters are identified, though their names often remain unknown

The situation in Athens at the end of the 6th century BC

Euphronios must have been born around 535 BC, when Athenian art and culture bloomed during the tyranny of Peisistratos. Most Attic pottery was then painted in the black-figure style. Much of the Athenian pottery production of that time was exported to Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...

. Most of the extant Attic pottery has been recovered as grave goods (excavated or looted) from Etruscan tombs.

At the time, vase painting received major new impulses from potters such as Nikosthenes

Nikosthenes

Nikosthenes was a potter of Greek black- and red-figure pottery in the time window 545-510 B.C. He is thought to have been associated with the work of the painters Oltos, Lydos, Epiktetos and the Nikosthenes-Painter....

 and Andokides

Andokides

Andokides was a famous potter of Ancient Greece. The painter of his pots was an anonymous artist, the Andokides painter, who is recognized as the creater of the red-figure style, beginning around 530 BC. His work is compared with Exekias, who was said to have created the most detailed and best...

. The Andokides workshop began the production of red-figure pottery around 530 BC. Gradually, the new red-figure technique began to replace the older black-figure style. Euphronios was to become one of the most important representatives of early red-figure vase painting in Athens. Together with a few other contemporary young painters, modern scholarship counts him as part of the "Pioneer Group

Pioneer Group

The Pioneer Group were a number of red-figure vase painters working in Kerameikos or the potters' quarter of Athens around the beginning of the 5th century BCE. Characterized by John Boardman as perhaps the first conscious art movement in the western tradition, the group comprised the painters...

" of red-figure painting.

Apprenticeship in the workshop of Kachrylion

Euphronios appears to have started painting vases around 520 BC, probably under the tutelage of Psiax

Psiax

Psiax was an Attic vase painter of the transitional period between the black-figure and red-figure styles. His works date to circa 525 to 505 BC and comprise about 60 surviving vases, two of which bear his signature. Initially he was allocated the name Menon Painter by John Beazley...

. Later, Euphronios himself was to have a major influence on the work of his erstwhile master, as well as on that of several other older painters. Later he worked in the workshop of the potter Kachrylion

Kachrylion

Kachrylion was a potter of Greek red-figure pottery at the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th century. At his pottery had worked some of the most important attic-Greek vase painters of these timse, so Euphronios and Oltos. He signed 29 kylixes and one plate.-Literature:*John Beazley:...

, under supervision of the painter Oltos

Oltos

Oltos was a Late Archaic Greek vase painter, active in Athens. From the time between 525 BC and 500 BC, about 150 works by him are known. Two pieces, a cup in Berlin and a cup in Tarquinia , are signed by him as painter.Oltos is thought to have begun his career in the workshop of the potter...

.

His works from this early phase already show several of Euphronios' artistic characteristics: his tendency to paint mythological scenes, his preference for monumental compositions, but also for scenes from everyday life, and his careful rendering of muscles and movement. The latter aspects particularly indicate a close link with Psiax, who painted in a similar style. Apart from a few fragments, a bowl in London

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 (E 41) and one in Malibu (77.AE.20) can be ascribed to this phase of his work.

The most important early vase, however, is a signed specimen depicting Sarpedon

Sarpedon

In Greek mythology, Sarpedon referred to at least three different people.-Son of Zeus and Europa:The first Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and Europa, and brother to Minos and Rhadamanthys. He was raised by the king Asterion and then, banished by Minos, his rival in love for the young Miletus, he...

. It was only through the appearance of this vase on the international market that Euphronios' early works could be recognised and distinguished from the paintings of Oltos

Oltos

Oltos was a Late Archaic Greek vase painter, active in Athens. From the time between 525 BC and 500 BC, about 150 works by him are known. Two pieces, a cup in Berlin and a cup in Tarquinia , are signed by him as painter.Oltos is thought to have begun his career in the workshop of the potter...

, who had previously been credited with some works by Euphronios. Although it later became common for painters to sign their best works, signatures were rarely used in black-figure and early red-figure painting.

Even Euphronios's earliest known works show a total control of the technical abilities necessary for red-figure vase painting. Similarly, a number of technical advances which were adopted as part of the standard red-figure technique can be first seen in his work. To render the depictions of human anatomy more plastic and realistic, he introduced the relief line and the use of diluted clay slip

Slip (ceramics)

A slip is a suspension in water of clay and/or other materials used in the production of ceramic ware. Deflocculant, such as sodium silicate, can be added to the slip to disperse the raw material particles...

. Depending on how it is applied, the slip can acquire a range of colours between light yellow and dark brown during firing, thus mutiplying the stylistic possibilities available to the artist. Euphronios's technical and artistic innovations were apparently quickly influential; pieces produced during his early period by other painters working for Kachrylion, and even by his former teachers Psiax and Oltos, show stylistic and technical aspects first seen in Euphronios's own work.

Although Kachylion's workshop only produced drinking bowls, and Euphronios continued to work for him into his maturity, simple bowls soon failed to satisfy his artistic impulse. He began to paint other vase types, probably working with different potters. The Villa Giulia

Villa Giulia

The Villa Giulia is a villa in Rome, Italy. It was built by Pope Julius III in 1550–1555 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, an impressive collection of Etruscan art and artifacts....

 holds two very early pelike

Pelike

A pelike is a one-piece ceramic container similar to an amphora.It has two open handles that are vertical on their lateral aspects and even at the side with the edge of the belly, a narrow neck, a flanged mouth, and a sagging, almost spherical belly....

s by him. Such medium-size vases offered more space for his figural paintings. A psykter

Psykter

A psykter is a type of Greek pot that is characterized by a bulbous body set on a high, narrow foot. It was used as a wine cooler. The psykter would be filled with wine, and then be placed in a krater full of cold water or ice....

 now in Boston is also counted among his early work, as it strongly resembles the work of Oltos: stiff garment folds, almond-shaped eyes, a small protruding chin and ill-differentiated hands and feet. Alternatively, it could be a relatively careless work from a later phase.

Such problems in assigning Euphronios' works to the different periods of his activity recur for several of his vases. Although the general chronology and development of his work is well known, some of his works remain difficult to place precisely. For example, a chalice krater in the Antikensammlung Berlin

Antikensammlung Berlin

The Antikensammlung Berlin is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological artefacts from the ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Cypriot civilizations...

, depicting young men exercising in the palaistra

Palaistra

Palaistra can refer to:*a palaestra*a place in the Greek prefecture of Florina...

 is often counted among his later works due to the vase shape. Nonetheless, it seems that in spite of the occurrence of some advanced methods (careful representation of musculature, the use of the relief line), the krater must be dated to an earlier phase, since it borrows some stylistic motifs from black-figure vase painting. These motifs include an ivy garland below the mouth, the fairly small image format and the stylistic similarity to the work of Oltos.

Innovation and competition

Around 510 BC, probably seeking new media for his compositions, Euphronios entered the workshop of Euxitheos, a potter who was similarly engaged in experimenting with form and decor in his own work. The stylistic development of Euphronios's work during this period, during which both painter and potter attempted bold and influential experiments, permits a reconstruction of its chronological sequence with some certainty.

A partially preserved chalice krater from this period (Louvre

Louvre

The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...

 G 110) is indicative of the degree to which Euphronios was aware of the influence of his artistic innovations. The front of the chalice shows a classic scene that he had already painted on a bowl around 520 BC : the fight between Heracles

Heracles

Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...

 and the Nemean Lion

Nemean Lion

The Nemean lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. It was eventually killed by Heracles. It could not be killed with mortal weapons because its golden fur was impervious to attack...

. The back, however, depicts a bold and innovative double composition : above, a komos

Komos

The Komos was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. Its precise nature has been difficult to reconstruct from the diverse literary sources and evidence derived from vase painting....

 scene, with the participants of the dance drawn in extreme physical postures, and below, a figure viewed from behind, arms leaning backwards. The striking scene has been thought to be the reason that Euphronios signed the work. The signature is unique, as the artist uses the formula Euphronios egraphsen tade - "Euphronios has painted these things". The piece is a characteristic example of the Pioneer Group's work and shows how a single vase could make an individual contribution to the development of the form.

This drive for innovation led to a spirit of competition even within individual workshops. On an amphora in Munich

Staatliche Antikensammlungen

The Staatliche Antikensammlungen in the Kunstareal of Munich is a museum for the Bavarian state's antique collections for Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. The Bavarian state collection of Ancient Egyptian art is traditionally placed in its own museum...

, Euthymides, another Pioneer Group Painter, claims that he has painted a picture "as Euphronois never could have done". This phrase implies respect for the colleague's and rival's skill, as well as a contest with him. Similarly, a somewhat younger painter, Smikros

Smikros

Smikros was an ancient Greek vase painter who flourished in Athens from 510 until 500 BCE. He was active in the workshop of the Euphronios...

, probably a pupil of Euphronios, created some very successful early works that directly plagiarised his master. The Getty Museum

Getty Center

The Getty Center, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, is a campus for cultural institutions founded by oilman J. Paul Getty. The $1.3 billion center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles...

 has a signed psykter

Psykter

A psykter is a type of Greek pot that is characterized by a bulbous body set on a high, narrow foot. It was used as a wine cooler. The psykter would be filled with wine, and then be placed in a krater full of cold water or ice....

 by Smikros that depicts Euphronios wooing an ephebe

Ephebos

Ephebos , also anglicised as ephebe or archaically ephebus , is a Greek word for an adolescent age group or a social status reserved for that age in Antiquity....

 named as Leagros. The name Leagros occurs frequently in kalos inscriptions

Kalos inscription

The Kalos inscription was a form of epigraph found on Attic vases and graffiti in antiquity, common between 550 and 450 BC, and usually found on symposion vessels. The word καλός means "beautiful"; here it had an erotic connotation, and the inscription took the form of a youth's name, in the...

 by Euphronios.

Herakles, Antaios and Sarpedon – the two masterpieces

A chalice krater with a depiction of Heracles and Antaios in combat is often considered one of Euphronios's masterpieces. The contrast between the barbarian Libyan giant Antaios and the civilised, well-groomed Greek hero is a striking reflection of the developing Greek self-image, and the anatomical precision of the struggling characters' bodies lends grace and power to the piece. The intensity of the work is increased by the presence of two fleeing^Clarify female figures, whose statuesque appearance closes the image. During the restoration of the vase, an original outline sketch was found, showing that Euphronios initially had difficulties in depicting the dying giant's outstretched arm, but managed to overcome them while painting the scene.
The Sarpedon krater or Euphronios krater

Euphronios krater

The Euphronios krater is an ancient Greek terra cotta krater, a bowl used for mixing wine with water. Created around the year 515 BC, it is considered one of the finest Greek vase in existence artifacts and is the only complete example of the surviving 27 vases painted by the renowned Euphronios...

, created around 515 BC, is normally considered to be the apex of Euphronios' work. As on the well-known vase from his early phase, Euphronios sets Sarpedon

Sarpedon

In Greek mythology, Sarpedon referred to at least three different people.-Son of Zeus and Europa:The first Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and Europa, and brother to Minos and Rhadamanthys. He was raised by the king Asterion and then, banished by Minos, his rival in love for the young Miletus, he...

 at the centre of the composition. Following an order by Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

, Thanatos

Thanatos

In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the daemon personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person...

 and Hypnos

Hypnos

In Greek mythology, Hypnos was the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent was known as Somnus. His twin was Thánatos ; their mother was the primordial goddess Nyx . His palace was a dark cave where the sun never shines. At the entrance were a number of poppies and other hypnogogic plants...

 carry Sarpedon's dead body from the battlefield. In the centre background is Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

, here depicted in his role of accompanying the dead on their last voyage. The ensemble is flanked by two Trojan warriors staring straight ahead, apparently oblivious of the action that takes place between them. The figures are not only labelled with their names, but also with explanatory texts. The use of thin slip allowed Euphronius to deliberately use different shades of colour, rendering the scene especially lively. But the krater marks the peak of the artist's abilities not only in pictorial terms; the vase also represents a new achievement in the development of the red-figure style. The shape of the chalice krater had already been developed during the black-figure phase by the potter and painter Exekias

Exekias

Exekias was an ancient Greek vase-painter and potter, who worked between approximately 550 BC - 525 BC at Athens. Most of his vases, however, were exported to other regions of the Mediterranean, such as Etruria, while some of his other works remained in Athens. Exekias worked mainly with a...

, but Euxitheos's vase displays further innovations created specifically for the red-figure technique. By painting the handles, foot and lower body of the vase black, the space available for red-figure depictions is strictly limited. As is usual for Euphronios, the pictorial scene is framed by twisting curlicue

Curlicue

A curlicue, or alternatively curlycue, in the visual arts, is a fancy twist, or curl, composed usually from a series of concentric circles...

s. The painting itself is a classic example of the painter's work: strong, dynamic, detailed, anatomically accurate and with a strong hint of pathos

Pathos

Pathos represents an appeal to the audience's emotions. Pathos is a communication technique used most often in rhetoric , and in literature, film and other narrative art....

. Both artists appear to have been aware of the quality of their work, as both painter and potter signed it. The krater is the only work by Euphronios to have survived in its entirety. On display at the Metropolitan Museum, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 since 1972, it was officially returned to Italian ownership in February 2006, but remained on display as a loan to the Metropolitan Museum until its repatriation to Italy in January 2008.

The back of the Sarpedon krater shows a simple arming scene, executed more hastily as the massive krater's clay dried and rendered it less workable. This explicitly contemporary scene, depicting a group of anonymous youths arming themselves for war, is emblematic of the new realism in content as well as form which Euphronios brought to the red-figure technique. These scenes from everyday life, and the artistic conceit of pairing them with a mythological scene on the same piece, distinguish many of the pieces painted by Euphronios and those who followed him.

Scenes from everyday life

Apart from mythological motifs, Euphronios also produced many pots incorporating scenes from everyday life. A chalice krater in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen

Staatliche Antikensammlungen

The Staatliche Antikensammlungen in the Kunstareal of Munich is a museum for the Bavarian state's antique collections for Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. The Bavarian state collection of Ancient Egyptian art is traditionally placed in its own museum...

 at Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 depicts a symposium

Symposium

In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...

. Four men are lying on couches (klinai) and drinking wine. A hetaira

Hetaira

Hetaira is a genus of bush cricket in family Tettigoniidae subfamily Phaneropterinae....

, named "Syko" by the accompanying inscription, is playing the flute, while the host, named as Ekphantides, is chanting a song to honour Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

. The words flood from his mouth in a composition resembling the speech bubbles of modern comics. Such scenes are relatively common. This is probably mostly because the vases were made to be used at comparable occasions, but perhaps also because painters like Euphronios belonged to the depicted circles of Athenian citizenry - or at least aspired to do so, as it is not clear to modern researchers what the social status of a vase painter was.

A signed psykter at the Hermitage

Hermitage Museum

The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...

 (St. Petersburg) is also very well known. It depicts four hetairai feasting. One of them is labelled with the name Smikra, probably a humorous allusion to the young painter Smikros.

Apart from the feasting images, there are also some palaistra scenes, which permitted the artist to indulge his delight in movement, dynamics and musculature. One example is the only surviving piece by Euphronios in black-figure technique, fragments of which were found on the Athenian Acropolis. It was a Panathenaic amphora

Panathenaic Amphorae

Panathenaic amphorae were the large ceramic vessels that contained the oil given as prizes in the Panathenaic Games...

. Part of the head of Athena

Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...

 is recognisable. It is likely that the reverse, as was the norm for this vase shape, depicted an athletic competition in one of the sports that formed part of the Panathenaic Games

Panathenaic Games

The Panathenaic Games were held every four years in Athens in Ancient Greece since 566 BC. They continued into the third century AD. These Games incorporated religious festival, ceremony , athletic competitions, and cultural events hosted within a stadium.-Religious festival:The games were part of...

.

Late phase

Euphronios's later works are partially beset by difficulties of attribution. In many cases, this is due to direct imitation or echoes of his own artistic style in the work of other painters working during his lifetime.

Well known is an unsigned volute krater, found in the 18th century near Arezzo

Arezzo

Arezzo is a city and comune in Central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 m above sea level. In 2011 the population was about 100,000....

. The main scene on the belly of the vase can easily be attributed to Euphronios. The krater shows a combat scene, with Heracles

Heracles

Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...

 and Telamon

Telamon

In Greek mythology, Telamon , son of the king Aeacus, of Aegina, and Endeis and brother of Peleus, accompanied Jason as one of his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. In the Iliad he was the father of Greek heroes Ajax the Great and Teucer the Archer by different...

 at the center, fighting amazons

Amazons

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

. Telamon delivers the deathblow to a wounded amazon in Scythian clothing. Heracles is fighting the amazon Teisipyle, who is aiming an arrow at him. This late work is another example of Euphronios's search for new forms of expression. The scene is characterized by an impressive dynamic, which seems to have taken control of the artist, as he painted Telamon's leg in a very twisted position. The small frieze of komastes

Komos

The Komos was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. Its precise nature has been difficult to reconstruct from the diverse literary sources and evidence derived from vase painting....

 around the neck of the vase is problematic in terms of attribution. It may be by one of the master's assistants, perhaps by Smikros.

That particular krater appears to have been a central work, influencing and inspiring many others. For example, a neck amphora (Louvre G 107) shows a nearly identical scene, but in a style quite different from that of Euphronios. On it, Heracles is accompanied by a mysterious inscription: He appears to belong to Smikros. Perhaps it is a cooperation by both artists. A different situation applies to an amphora (Leningrad 610) that also shows a similar scene to the krater descried above, but depicts Heracles as an archer. As the piece is similar to Euphronios's work not only in terms of motif but also of artistic style, Beazley hesitantly ascribed it to the master. The problem is that at this point, the style and skills of Smikros had grown very similar to those of his teacher, making it difficult to distinguish their works.

Euphronios's final works (Louvre G 33, Louvre G 43) are characterized by strong simplification. The motifs are less carefully composed than earlier works, probably because Euphronios concentrated on a different occupation from 500 BC onwards.

Euphronios as potter

Euphronios seems to have taken over a pottery workshop around 500 BC. It is not unusual in the history of Greek pottery and vase painting for artists to be active in both fields; several other painters from the Pioneer Group, such as Phintias

Phintias (painter)

Phintias was an ancient Greek vase painter; along with Euphronios and Euthymides, he was one of the most important representatives of the Pioneer Group of Athenian red-figure vase painters. Ten works from the period between 525 and 510 BC bearing his signature survive: seven vase paintings and...

 and Euthymides

Euthymides

Euthymides was an ancient Athenian potter and painter of vases, primarily active between 515 and 500 BC. He was a member of the Greek art movement later to be known as "The Pioneers" for their exploration of the new decorative style known as red-figure pottery...

 are also known to have been potters. Nonetheless, the situation of Euphronios is unique insofar that he was initially active exclusively as a painter and later only as a potter.

In the following years, the Euphronios workshop mainly produced bowls. It is understandable that he should have made such a choice, as the potters (kerameis) probably were independent entrepreneurs, whereas the painters were employees. Thus, a potter had a higher chance to reach affluence. Some other hypotheses have been suggested, e.g. that Euphronios developed a true passion for the potter's craft. This is quite possible, as he turned out to be a highly skilled potter; in fact, his signature as potter survives on more vases than that as a painter. A further theory proposes that a deterioration of eyesight forced him to concentrate on a different activity. This view may be supported by the discovery of the base of a votive offering on the Acropolis. A fragmentary inscription contains the name Euphronios and the word hygieia (health). In modern scholarships, material considerations are, however, more generally accepted as relevant.

It is interesting that he chose bowls as the main product of his workshop. Heretofore, bowls had usually been painted by less skilled painters, and were probably in lower regards than other vases. His choice of painters indicates that he placed major emphasis on employing first class talents, such as Onesimos

Onesimos (vase painter)

Onesimos was an ancient Athenian vase painter who flourished between 505 and 480 BC. He specialized in decorating cups, mostly of Type B, which comprise virtually all known examples of his work....

, Douris

Douris (vase painter)

Douris was an ancient Athenian red-figure vase-painter and potter active ca. 500 to 460 BCE.-Work:He began his career painting for the potters Kleophrades and Euphronios, before beginning a long collaboration with the potter Python. He signed 39 vases as a painter, also one as a potter and...

, the Antiphon Painter

Antiphon Painter

The Antiphon painter was an Athenian vase painter of the early 5th century BC. He owes his name to a double Kalos inscription of Antiphon on the dinos stand in the Antique collection of Berlin . He was active between 500 and 475 BC in Athens as a painter of the red figure style in the largest...

, the Triptolemos Painter

Triptolemos Painter

The Triptolemos Painter was an ancient Greek vase painter, belonging to the Attic red-figure style. He was active in Athens between 490 and 470 BC. His real name is not known. He started working in the workshop of Euphronios, where he was probably taught by Douris. Later, he also worked for the...

 and the Pistoxenos Painter

Pistoxenos Painter

The Pistoxenos Painter was an important ancient Greek vase painter of the Classical period. He was active in Athens between circa 480 and 460 BC. His conventional name is derived from his name vase. The vase, a skyphos, now at Schwerin, has a signature indicating that it was made by the potter...

, in his workshop.

External links

• http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=rs_display_res&langue=fr&critere=Euphronios&operator=AND&nbToDisplay=20Works by Euphronios in the Louvre
  Louvre
  The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
  
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• Works by Euphronios in the Getty Museum
• Links to works by Euphronios online