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.

Like many of his fellow 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...

 painters, Onesimos emphasized realistically rendered, active figures, and depicted tableaux drawn from daily life as well as scenes from mythology. A number of the pieces painted by Onesimos bear the signature of Euphronios

Euphronios

Euphronios was an ancient Greek vase painter and potter, active in Athens in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. As part of the so-called "Pioneer Group,"...

 as potter. In light of this evidence of the two artists' close collaboration, as well as similarities in their painting styles, many researchers believe that Onesimos learned his trade as Euphronios's pupil. Similarly, the works of the later 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...

bear a close stylistic resemblance to those of Onesimos, suggesting that Onesimos may have served as a teacher in his own right.

Sources

• The Getty Museum - Biography of Onesimos