Greek vase - the beauty of antiquity

Ancient Greek ceramics is one of the most reliable sources of information about the history and way of life of Ancient Greece. Its inhabitants widely used metal and clay products in everyday life. Shards and shards, decorated with various mythological and everyday scenes, archeologists find in all places where this ancient people lived and sold. Greek antique vases, which have survived to our days, date back to different epochs. Since the time of the Minotaur (2,5 thousand years BC) and ending with the Christian era.

The first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the phrase "Greek vase" is an amphora. At the same time, it is overlooked that amphoras are far from the only findings that finders find during excavations. The inventive Greeks came up with their own names for every everyday thing that came out of the hands of the skillful potters of Athens and Sparta.

Manufacturing technology

Such a variety of ceramics is due to the technology of pottery production in ancient Greece. A Greek vase from Corinth, Crete or Athens has a very special qualitative composition of clay. The Attica ceramics were made of reddish material. In Corinth pottery for clay products was taken clay with a yellow tinge. And the lower Italy left a legacy of ceramics made of brown material.

The ancient Greeks decorated with painting almost all kinds of ceramic dishes. Thanks to a strong roasting, any Greek vase became resistant to the destructive effects of the environment, so it retained the freshness of the paints for several thousand years. The shards found by modern researchers tell from the depths of the centuries the names of the vase painters, potters and owners of these products.

Archaeologists distinguish between the vessels used by men and women. Greek ceramics of the male world serves for entertainment, feasts, wine drinking. Ceramics of the female world is designed for housekeeping. There was also a group of products intended for storage and trade. The remains of large containers, adapted to store spices, flour, wine, olive oil, archeologists are found in all places where the ancient Greeks lived and traded. Bright, beautifully painted clay vessels were in demand among the Mediterranean peoples, and the trade in pottery brought a good profit.

The First Painting

The first Greek vases are dated by the decline of Mycenaean culture. Painting on the pottery products of the mainland Greece is characterized by a simple pattern - simple geometric figures on a homogeneous light background. Later, the drawings became more complicated, stylized images of people and animals of black, occasionally red, were added. By the end of the VII century BC. E. The geometric style disappears, the new technology of painting ceramics, and, hence, new colorful drawings on vases and jugs comes to him.

Black-figured vase painting

By the middle of the 7th century, Corinth became the center of pottery . On the vases appear mythical heroes and figural ornaments. The strong influence of eastern traditions with their griffins, sphinxes and cheetahs is transferred to the surface of Greek vases. The technology of making black-figure painting suggested a three-time firing. The firing gave the vase a red background, and the glossy clay, which was painted on the walls of the vessel, made the images black.

In the heyday of black-figured pottery, the Greek vase is decorated with everyday scenes, images of battles and feasts. To emphasize the white skin of women, they began to use the appropriate color. In the sixth century BC. E. The popularity of the black-figure painting is dropping, and the Greek vase painted in red-figure style comes out on top.

Red-figure vase painting

The first person who guessed to paint the background with the black color , and not the figures on the Greek vase, was the painter Andokid. The development of the art of painting pottery and new technologies made it possible to transfer to the surface of clay products a large number of plots. Southern Italy became a new center of vase painting. Along with the already well-known genre scenes, military scenes and mythological tales, the surface of Greek vases is adorned with female profiles, everyday sketches, landscapes and architectural structures. There are vases-bilinguals, which are decorated with two types of paintings at the same time.

White painting

For individual types of clay vessels, such as alabastrones and lekifs, a special type of painting was used. On a white background, various shapes were applied in black or red. Because of the comparative complexity of making a white painting of a pottery, such items are rarely found in archeologists.

In pursuit of the perfection of forms and mural, the ancient Greek vase appears to modern researchers as one of the most amazing and unique works of art. A huge number of products from stone, clay, metal and bone are represented in museums and collections of private collectors. And a great variety of shapes and bright painting of products allow you to infinitely admire the ancient vessels.