Andokides (vase painter) facts for kids

Hoplites with Athena and Hermes. Side A from an Attic red-figure amphora, c. 530 B.C., from Vulci. Louvre Museum, Paris.

Andokides was an ancient Athenian vase painter, active from approximately 530 to 515 B.C. His work is unsigned and his true name unknown. He was identified as a unique artistic personality through stylistic traits found in common among several paintings. This corpus was then attributed by John D. Beazley to the Andokides Painter, a name derived from the potter Andokides, whose signature appears on several of the vases bearing the painter's work. He is often credited with being the originator of the red-figure vase painting technique. To be sure, he is certainly one of the earliest painters to work in the style. In total, fourteen amphorae and two cups are attributed to his hand. Six of the amphorae are "bilingual", meaning they display both red-figure and black-figure scenes.

Biography

Herakles and Athena. Side A of an Attic red-figure bilingual amphora painted by Andokides, ca. 520 B.C., from Vulci. Staatliche Antikensammlung, Munich, inv. 2301.

Several details regarding the artistic biography of the Andokides Painter have been suggested through connoisseurial studies of his work. As mentioned, he is widely thought to be the creator of the red-figure painting technique. It is likely, however, that he also worked in black-figure painting, and his style suggests a link, possibly in the role of student, to the great black-figure painter Exekias. John Boardman sees connections to Ionian art in the painter's work, suggesting that he may have been an immigrant from East Greece. Dietrich von Bothmer also notes that the earliest instances of the use of a white ground in vase painting occur in the Andokides Painter's scenes, perhaps indicating that he should be credited additionally with inventing the white ground technique.

The emergence of red-figure painting

The invention of the red-figure technique occurred sometime around 525 B.C. The evidence for this date lies in the connections between the Andokides Painter's work and a datable monument: the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi. The frieze of the Treasury shows certain stylistic and compositional innovations, such as the introduction of three-quarter views and foreshortening, which parallel developments in the new red-figure painting, most especially in images by the Andokides Painter. Additionally, certain subjects depicted on the Treasury, like the struggle for the Delphic tripod, are not generally found in Attic painting until the Andokides Painter's red-figure scenes. The relationship between the Treasury and the Andokides Painter's work is so strong, that some scholars have posited the vase painter was somehow involved in the frieze's production, perhaps as a colorist.

Works

Name	Images		Dimensions	Type	Date	Description	Museum Record
Berlin, Antikensammlung
F 2159			H. 58.2 cm.	Belly Amphora	c. 525 BC	Herakles and the Delphic Tripod; Wrestlers	Perseus
Bologna, Museo Civico
---				Amphora		A: Herakles and the Nemean Lion B: Dionysos
London, British Museum
B 193			H. 54.6 cm	Belly Amphora	c. 520 BC	A: Achilles and Ajax B: Herakles and Nemean Lion	Record
Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen
2301			H. 53.5 cm D. 22.5 cm	Belly Amphora	520-510 BC	A: Herakles feasting B: Herakles feasting
Paris, Louvre
F 203			H: 40.5 cm D: 25.2 cm	Amphora	530-520 BC	A: Amazons; B: Bathing women	Perseus
F 204			H. 58.20 cm; D. 37.50 cm	Amphora	530-520 BC	A: Herakles and Kerberos
G1			H. 57.2 cm; D. 36.6 cm	Amphora	525-520 BC	A: Hoplite battle; B: Citharode	Perseus

See also

In Spanish: Pintor de Andócides para niños

• List of Greek vase painters