EARLY
GREEK VASE PAINTING
11th-6th
Centuries BC
John Boardman
All
the components of Greek art which were to culminate in the Classical
styles of the 5th century BC can be traced in the development of vase
painting in early Greece, from the 11th to the 6th centuries BC. Geometric
styles gave way by about 700 BC to the influence of the Near East;
in the following Orientalizing period the Greeks learned how to tell
a story in pictures; and by the 6th century various regional studios
were competing with the dominant Corinthian and Athenian potters and
painters for markets east and west. Early Greek vases display the
Greek painter's craft at its most mathematical, its most colorful,
and in its most directly narrative mode —closely mirroring the
history and culture of their day. There are three companion volumes
to this book, all by Sir John Boardman: Athenian
Black Figure Vases, Athenian Red Figure Vases:
the Archaic Period, and Athenian Red Figure
Vases: the Classical Period.
All
the components of Greek art which were to culminate in the Classical
styles of the 5th century BC can be traced in the development of vase
painting in early Greece, from the 11th to the 6th centuries BC. Geometric
styles gave way by about 700 BC to the influence of the Near East;
in the following Orientalizing period the Greeks learned how to tell
a story in pictures; and by the 6th century various regional studios
were competing with the dominant Corinthian and Athenian potters and
painters for markets east and west. Early Greek vases display the
Greek painter's craft at its most mathematical, its most colorful,
and in its most directly narrative mode —closely mirroring the
history and culture of their day. There are three companion volumes
to this book, all by Sir John Boardman: