Black-figured l'ases.—The Oriental impulse was conveyed to Greece by all manner of portable objects, among which seals and cylinders form an important class. Specimens of Persian engraved stones are given on Plate 13 (fic,rs. 6, 7). Compositions with human figures gradually sup plant the friezes representing animals, and, as the color employed for these figures was now quite black, this class of vases is known as the black figured type. We may roughly classify them as earlier and later accord ing to the closeness or the remoteness of the resemblance to the preceding class. The compositions appear at first arranged in parallel bands, and the draughtsmanship is stiff and conventional. But a great stride has been made in the approach toward a more naturalistic mode of representa tion. The meaningless rows of animals and rosettes disappear or are rele gated to an position, their places being taken by a composition the subject of which is supplied by Greek mythology or from the scenes of daily life. The Trojan war, the labors of Herakles, the struggles of The seus, are frequent themes, but we find also gymnastic exercises, marriages, and feastings.
The finest example of this class is known as the Francois vase, in the Museum at Florence. The principal subject on the body of this vase is the procession of the gods at the marriage of Thetis with Pelens. On the neck are represented the chariot-races at the funeral of Patroklos. The personages are designated by accompanying inscriptions, and the vase is signed by the potter Ergotimos and the painter Kleitias, in characters which were in use not later than 500 B. C. Of ruder description is the Procession of Hermes leading three goddesses (fig. 1). But even in the awkward stride of these figures there is a distinct effort to express activity, and, in the spirit of the Ionic feeling for form, the main lines of the body are made to show through the folds of the drapery. Similar character istics appear in the better-drawn group where Herakles is running off with the Delphic tripod (jig. 2). Athena stands by his side, while behind him Apollo with his sister Artemis seeks to recover the stolen trophy.
In the first half of the fifth century the black-figured vases reach their perfect type. The parallel bands of the former period disappear, and more care is given to composition and greater attention to details. An attempt is made to secure a somewhat wider range of color by a more frequent use of white and of a dark red. But we are still far from a free style: the figures are all in profile, while the eyes remain en fare; the drapery is undeveloped or hangs in stiff folds, and the body does not exhibit the same approach to nature as does the sculpture of this period. So deep, however, was the impression made by the direct simplicity of these designs that they were frequently copied two centuries later, when the art of paint ing had reached a higher level.
d 11 red I ;7 Se S. —After the Peloponnesian war the character of Greek vase-painting undergoes a change. The figures now appear in the natural red color of the clay, while the entire ground is painted black. This change gave the artist greater freedom with the brush, as the small lines ‘vhieli in the preceding class were incised with the dry point were now laid in with a line brush or pen. After the artist had drawn his figures a common workman could blacken the spaces between them.
The subjects of this class of vases exhibit no essential variation from those of the preceding, though they are treated with more elaboration. In style the stiff archaic drawing appears at first, and black figures sometimes occur upon the same vase with the red. But soon greater freedom is reached. The figures assume more natural proportions, the drapery falls in easier folds, and the inscribed names disappear as the beauty and ele gance of the art of the fourth century make themselves felt. Having gained confidence and ease in the delineation of single figures, the artist becomes more and more skilful in the composition of groups. This is evident in the scene from the Destruction of Troy, from a vase in the Naples Museum (p1. 13, 3). Here, on the left, we see _Eneas leading away his aged father; next to him is Ajax seizing Kassaudra as she seeks protection at the Palladium, and in the background a slain youth and wailing maidens; in the centre, Neoptulemos, who has slain Astvages, is dragging away the distracted Andromache; to the right are Trojan women, one defending herself, another an easy prisoner. While there is a unity of subject in the composition as a whole, the figures are conveniently divided into groups; so that from whatever point of view the vase is seen some complete por tion of the subject is exhibited.
The red-figured are by far the most numerous class of Greek vases, and exhibit a considerable range of merit. They include the vases of the best period, and continue on through the decline of the art. The farther we advance into the fourth century, the more frequent become the instances of light and graceful subjects suggested by daily life. Historical scenes are sometimes represented, as in a red-figured vase in Paris depicting Crwsus an Me Funera/-ple (pl. 14, 3). Athens, as we might expect, has furnished vases of the finest quality, usually of small size; they are cha racterized by the extreme delicacy of their painting and the beautiful black of their coating. Peculiar to Attica are the white /(1.ydroi made for the service of the dead. The paintings are of various colors upon a white ground, and represent such subjects as offerings at the stele of the dead, the hying out of the dead, the burial in the tomb, Charon and his bark. The style of design is more pictorial than is common in other classes of vases.