Kendrick 1 Miquel Kendrick, ARH4931, Spring 2010 Professor Barletta the Meidias Painter's Contribution

Kendrick 1 Miquel Kendrick, ARH4931, Spring 2010 Professor Barletta The Meidias Painter’s Contribution: Mannerism in 5th century Red-figure Vase Painting Vase painting had long been practiced thorough the Archaic and Early Classical periods in ancient Athens when the red-figure technique came to dominance during the High Classical. Prior to that, the main approach was the black-figure technique, which had been adopted from Corinth around 620 BCE (Richter, 1958, 36). The red-figure technique left figures in the clay’s red color with painted interior details and with a black background. It allowed for a more con- vincing way for artists to depict the illusion of space and depth in figures; the contours of faces, limbs and garments could now appear more naturalistic. Despite this, there rose a style of vase painting in the late 5th century that favored less naturalistic forms and traditional content, the Mannerist style, which was exemplified by the Meidias Painter. At the end of the 5th century BCE in Athens, the Mannerist style of red-figure vase painting by the Meidias Painter and his school of followers fused earlier Late Archaic motifs with inspiration from monumental wall painting (Mannack, 2001, 10). This created a body of work that was a deliberate shift from naturalistic forms replaced with a whimsical portrayal of familiar themes as an escape for Athens during the Peloponnesian War (Burn, 1987, 95). Late 5th century style in vase painting is characterized as more ornate than the preceding High Classical period with a tendency for groups of figures and varying ground lines. Artists like the Meidias Painter and his predecessors, the Eretria Painter and Aison, were less concerned with naturalistic tendencies and more interested in sketched anatomy of figures (Boardman, 1989, 145). There is use of foreshortening and slight perspective that shows understanding of 3- dimensionality on a 2-dimensional surface. There is also an interest in pattern not found in the Kendrick 2 rest of the Classical period and a rise polychrome and gilding techniques (Arias, 1963, 377). Several artists worked together using a three-step firing process in one workshop, which proba- bly allowed for exchanges in stylistic ideas and technique (Mannack, 2001, 1). This atmosphere most likely led to the use of the Mannerist style by the Meidias Painter, his predecessors, and followers. A total of 22 vases are attributed to the Meidias Painter who was active in Athens from about 420 to 400 BCE during the height of the Peloponnesian War. He was coined as the first Mannerist vase painter by the scholar, John D. Beazley in the early twentieth century in an at- tempt to label his style (Burn, 1987, 2). This was due to the use of elongated figures with small heads and what Beazley inferred as a value of form over content. He saw this as reflective of the Mannerist style in Europe during the late years of the High Renaissance, which was a reaction against the naturalistic principles of artists like Michelangelo and also, a looking back to earlier Gothic style (Mannack, 2001, 3). Thomas Mannack argues that the Mannerist label in ancient vase painting is essentially an unclear attribution, “Mannerism did not exist in antiquity, only some of its elements. The recognition of Mannerism in antiquity would depend on modern tastes” (Mannack, 2001, 4). As Mannack states, one should be especially critical of such a modern term applied to ancient pieces. Artists from that time may have made a conscious decision to move away from the previous, more naturalistic style, but in no way deliberately used Manner- ism and its pretenses as it is understood today. Figures in the style of the Meidias Painter are depicted gracefully having long profiles, rounded chins, large eyes, small mouths and elegantly shaped fingers and toes. Women are long limbed and dressed elaborately with multi-layered, clinging garments, gold earrings, necklaces and hair ornaments often with attached leaves or wreath. They are usually grouped together and Kendrick 3 portrayed in scenes overall much more often than men (Burn, 1987, 4). The Meidias Painter’s figures are arranged according to the narrative depicted with an emphasis on creating balance in relation to the shape of the vessel, although this does not hold true for the placement of the registers. The registers and motifs often do not correspond with the shape of the vase, which is most often a hydria, but also lekythoi and choes were used (Richter, 1958, 149). These recurring characteristics are found in both scenes on the Meidias Painter’s large hydria name-vase (Figure 1.) in the British Museum. It was acquired in 1772 from the Scottish diplomat and admirer of ancient Greek vase painting, Sir William Hamilton, who proudly dis- played it in the right foreground of his portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds (Burn, 1987, 1). The vase itself was excavated from an Etruscan tomb and contains two scenes connected by a meander band that both relate directly to the theme of death, which was only appropriate for its funerary purpose. It is signed Meidias epoie on the upper right shoulder and was used as a basis for the naming of other works by the same hand. The potter and painter may have been the same person (Folsum, 1976, 154). The top registers of the London hydria show the Rape of the Daughters of Leukippos by the Disoskouroi, Polydeukes and Kastor. The top left shows Polydeukes over the reigns of his chariot escaping with Elera in tow. There is an emphasis on the contour of their flowing garments with scroll designs and the movement of the chariot up over the shoulder of the vase towards the handle. It is a way to enhance the narrative scene by using the shape of the vessel (Burn, 1987, 3). Beneath Polydeukes is Kastor who has his arm around the other daughter, Eriphyle, who appears to be slightly resisting his advance, but not very convincingly. Such theat- rical, elegant postures that do not quite illustrate the danger of the action taking place are charac- teristic of the Meidias Painter’s work (Burn, 1987, 15). Below them Aphrodite who sits at her Kendrick 4 altar and is flanked on both sides by her fleeing attendants and Zeus to the far left who gazes up- on the whole scene. Aphrodite sits down assuming her typical Meidian pose and looks towards the action occurring in the center, thereby uniting the composition and narrative scene (Burn, 1987, 15). Aphrodite appears not only at her altar as a goddess, but also as an Archaic cult statue of herself. This is found in between the chariots in the top scene and is an example of Archaic retrospection. It could possibly correspond with a similar cult statue found on the north slope of the Acropolis (Burn, 1987, 29). The figures in bottom scene of the London hydria include Herakles in the afterlife Garden of Hesperides with an apple tree and serpent and several Athenian tribal heroes. The scene is not rigidly symmetrical with the figures and tree slightly off center. It illustrates one of the labors of Herakles to obtain the apples of Hesperides, yet as in the scene above it, there is little sense of danger involved. This is the first instance of a relaxed Herakles depicted, not actively pursuing his goal. He sits and leans against a club, surrounded by women who offer him apples (Burn, 1987, 17). Once again, the Meidias Painter uses a more whimsical, softened approach to a typi- cally more suspenseful story. The Garden of Hesperides was a paradise for the gods in the afterlife and the presence of the tribal heroes of Athens in the scene may have tied Athenian identity to the potential of an ideal afterlife. This would have been especially important for Athenians surrounded by death and hardships due to the Peloponnesian War (Burn, 1987, 19). One of the most evident themes in the work of the Meidias Painter is his emphasis on na- ture; paradise gardens are the most prevalent settings in his work. Multiple ground lines coupled with wavy lines indicate grass, shrubs, trees, and meadows and create a dreamy atmosphere for his figures to occupy (Boardman, 1989, 11) These fanciful environments almost always show women standing and sitting about never doing anything quite strenuous. They arrange their hair Kendrick 5 or transparent peplos garments or stare off in one direction that complements the composition and narrative. Their luxurious state is emphasized even more by the the scroll designs on their garments or by the gilded jewelry they wear. Lucilla Burn points out that women in ancient Ath- ens, even wealthy ones, did not have much time to lounge around, so one could infer from these scenes that the Meidias Painter was out to create an alternate reality not grounded necessarily in what Athenians experienced in their own lives (Burn, 1987, 95). Instead, he used his imagination to paint a world not affected by hunger, plague, or war. Along with an inclination for garden scenes, the Meidias Painter preferred to depict mythological themes over historical events. During the previous Early Classical and High Clas- sical periods, many vase painters had portrayed actual battles and even mythological ones from the Trojan War (Folsum, 1976, 151). While working during the Peloponnesian War, the Meidias Painter avoided portraying real violence altogether and instead tamed it as in the Rape of the Daughters of Leukippos from the London hydria. One could infer that war was not as desirable of a subject matter because of its prevalence in Athenians’ lives.

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