In Archaic Greek black-figure vase painting, the decoration appears as black silhouettes painted on a reddish-orange background. Black-figure pottery shows an emphasis on pictorial subjects: scenes from mythology and events from everyday life. The artistic level and flair for design in Greek vase painting are extremely high, marking the Archaic era as the great age of Greek vase painting. This is even more remarkable because of the limitations of the medium: the figures are done mainly in silhouette, and the painting is limited to what can be done with simple engraving tools.
Rich Athenians themselves probably used silver for their cups, vessels, and bowls. But early Greek clay pottery, which was cheap, very durable, and beautifully decorated, was immensely popular with the Etruscans, among the Greeks themselves, and over much of the ancient world.
Black-figure vase painting was done with one type of clay. The iron-rich clay used in Archaic Greek pottery looked black when wet, but when fired in an oven with plenty of oxygen, it oxydized and turned red. If fired in an oven with no oxygen, the iron didn't mix with oxygen and the pot stayed black. So artists had either red or black to work with for their designs.
The design was initially sketched in outline (probably with charcoal), and the figures were painted in with a specially-treated clay. When fired, this treated layer of clay turned black.
Next the artist added extra colors for accent. The most common was a yellowish-white derived from an iron-free clay, sometimes used for parts of clothing. A purplish-red was used for details like the beard and hair. These colors would remain unchanged after firing.
Fine details in the design, such as links in chain mail or folds in cloth, were scratched into the black paint with a sharp tool to reveal the reddish-orange background underneath. The artist might also scrape away the complete outline to give a sharp edge to his figures.
After firing, the pot would be polished and made ready for sale or use.
Two main centers of Greek vase production were Corinth and Athens. The Corinthians used black-figure pottery to depict animal friezes. The Athenians developed a more sophisticated style of black-figure painting that depicts battle scenes, mythical beings, banquets, horse races, and favorite legends. Women are also frequently depicted on pots, playing flutes, dancing, spinning, weaving, or as prostitutes in interesting situations. The black-figure painting style had replaced the Geometric style that had gone before it; by the 5th century BC, black-figure vase painting itself was eclipsed by red-figure painting.
Source:
Janson, H.W., History of Art. N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1974.
Suzanne Hill - Suzanne Moniea Hill studied art history and studio art and has been passionate about art all her life. She believes that people should ...
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