The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece by Judith M. Barringer

Author:Judith M. Barringer [Barringer, Judith M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2014-11-30T06:00:00+00:00

Fig 4.26 Paestum, Museo Archeologico Nazionale 25103, painted cover slab from Tomb of the Diver at Paestum, c. 480–470 BC, limestone, 194 × 98cm.

Other clues as to the appearance of wall painting may come from Attic red-figure vase painting, which from c. 460 BC onward exhibits new compositional techniques: an interest in creating the illusion of depth and space and in landscape elements (like the Paestum painting; the same phenomenon occurs in later relief sculpture, as well). A volute krater attributed to the Niobid Painter (the vase from which he receives his appellation, thus his “name vase”; Fig. 4.27a–b) depicts the twin gods Artemis and Apollo killing the children of Niobe as punishment for Niobe’s boast that she exceeded Leto, the divinities’ mother, in some respect (beauty or number of children). On the reverse, Herakles stands in the Underworld, where other heroes, mythological figures, and Athena also appear. The well-spaced figures, primarily standing or reclining, populate several ground levels to suggest depth, and sometimes appear “behind” a topographical feature, such as a hillock, which enhances this effect. The multiple groundlines are especially well suited to the large surfaces of monumental wall painting, and indeed, ancient authors describe such paintings as organized in just this manner.

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