Lydos
Master of the Grand Style
Lydos: Master of the grand style
• This vase shows Lydos at the height of his
development, shortly after the middle of
the sixth century B.C. This column-krater
ranks among the acknowledged
masterpieces by Lydos,
• An Attic vase painter whose name is
known from two signatures. The name
Lydos implies he was Lydian and he
signed himself as a slave
Lydos: Master of the grand style
• Used outline technique, which is often
used by his contemporary, the Amasis
Painter.
• The figures on this column krater dated to
c.550-540, each figure moves lively and
freely in different movement from each
other.
• About one hundred vases are attributed to
him.
2 Lydos; Column Krater
Vase: ColumnKrater
Potter & Painter: Lydos
Date: 560 - 540 B.C.
Height: 56.5cm
Human and animal characters:
• 27 satyrs and maenads
• Snakes and grapes
• Dionysus and Hephaistos, on
a donkey.
Attributed: on basis on style not
signed
nineteen gallons of liquid
Hephaistos on mule returning to
Olympus
Procession encircles the vase
Dionysos walks with satyrs and
maenads
Shape 1
Read the following slide & take one
note.
• The system of names used today for Greek
vases has quite rightly been described by
one leading scholar as 'chaotic'. Many of the
names were first applied in the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries by scholars who
tried to fit the names of pots that they knew
from Greek and Latin literature or
inscriptions to the pieces then surfacing
from excavations.
Shape 2
Read the following slide & take one
note
• More recent studies of inscriptions on
the actual pots have brought some of
the correct names to light, and it is
becoming increasingly clear that very
few of the names used today were used
in antiquity. However, the present
system is so widespread that it would
be very difficult to sweep it away and
replace it with something more logical.
Shape and functionality
Read the following slide & take 1 note
• Many pots fulfilled a range of functions,
being used in both domestic and ceremonial
or religious contexts. Clay, cheap and
plentiful in many parts of ancient Greece,
was the basic raw material for most
containers. At most times the wealthy would
have drunk from gold and silver cups, but
practically all households would have been
well supplied with a range of clay vessels,
both coarse and fine. These would have been
used for storage, cooking and for the table.
Column Craters
Read the following slide & take 2 notes
• The basic shape of a vase can often provide
clues to its function. The open form of broad,
shallow cups or large wine bowls (kraters),
suggests easy access for hands or
implements, for drinking, dipping or mixing.
• Scenes on pottery may also illustrate the way
the vases were used. Craters, Cups, bowls,
jugs and wine coolers are shown in use at
drinking parties
What activites can you see here?
Development
• In black-figure vase painting before the
last quarter of the sixth century B.C., the
decoration of large elaborate kraters
tended to be mythological.
• Exceptionally significant as one of the first
column kraters on which wine, women,
and song are presented.
The Return of Hephaistos
– Summary of the myth
• Hera threw Hephaistos out of heaven
–
–
–
–
For revenge he sent her a golden throne
Had invisible cords on it
When sat down she was trapped
Hephaistos refused to listen to any of the gods about this
• Dionysos
– Becomes friends with Hephaistos
– Gets him drunk
– Brought him back to heaven
– Later summary of myth
• Follows same story adds
– Ares tried to bring Hephaistos back
– Was chased away with burning torches
– Hera was grateful and convinced Olympians to admit Dionysos
among them
Cloze activity
Hephaistos, the son of ________ and _____, was born
________ and, for this reason, _________ cast him out
of Mount _________. Received and reared by the
daughters of Okeanos, he became an expert
____________ and took his revenge on his
__________by sending her a splendid _________ with a
hidden mechanism—when ___________ sat on it, the
springs relaxed so that she could not _________. Only
Hephaistos had the power to release her. As the gods
became desperate, _______________ resorted to the
power of ________, subdued _____________, and
eventually convinced him to release his ___________.
Escorted by _____________ and his entourage of
___________and ______________, H___________
returned to Mount _____________ in triumph.
Lydos
Read only
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
On this column-krater, no fewer than twenty-seven satyrs and maenads are shown in a frieze that
continues around the vase.
The procession is accented on one side by Dionysos, wearing long garments and a garland of ivy
on his head; he holds a keras (drinking horn) and the vine he taught men to cultivate.
Around him are the satyrs, shaggy creatures with horses' tails and ears, and maenads, female
devotees of the god of wine, wearing animal skins over their dresses.
Everyone proceeds in the same direction; dancers lift their feet and wave their arms in an
exuberant manner.
On the other side is Hephaistos, craftsman to the gods, riding a donkey. He is dressed in the short
tunic of artisans and grasps a drinking horn—the cause of his undoing.
One satyr carries a bulging wineskin, while two others turn to face the spectator; others are busy
with grapevines and ivy tendrils.
One of the satyrs plays the aulos, another holds a drinking horn, and one has his tail pulled by a
maenad.
In typical Archaic style, the painter has drawn the figures in pure profile or in full frontal view with
no attempt at foreshortening. In this way, the contours of each figure stand out clearly against the
background, and the composition becomes a decorative design.
Incised lines and added white and red glaze enliven the black silhouettes.
Dionysos
• The procession is
accented on one side
by Dionysos, wearing
long garments and a
garland of ivy on his
head; he holds a
keras (drinking horn)
and the vine he
taught men to
cultivate.
27 satyrs and maenads
• On this column-krater,
no fewer than twentyseven satyrs and
maenads are shown
in a frieze that
continues around the
vase.
Keats
• What men or gods are these? What maidens
loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Satyrs
• Around him are the
satyrs, shaggy
creatures with horses'
tails and ears,
Maenads
• Maenads, female
devotees of the god
of wine, wearing
animal skins over
their dresses.
Everyone moves in the same direction;
dancers lift feet & wave arms exuberantly
Hephaistos
• On the other side is
Hephaistos,
craftsman to the
gods, riding a donkey.
He is dressed in the
short tunic of artisans
and grasps a drinking
horn—the cause of
his undoing.
One satyr
carries a
bulging
wineskin,
while another turns to face the
spectator
others are busy with grapevines
and ivy tendrils.
Satyrs & Maenads
• What are satyrs doing / wearing / carrying
• What are maenads doing / wearing / carrying
Answers
• What are satyrs doing / wearing / carrying?
• What are maenads doing / wearing / carrying?
• One satyr carries a bulging wineskin, while two
others turn to face the spectator; others are busy
with grapevines and ivy tendrils. One of the
satyrs plays the aulos, another holds a drinking
horn, and one has his tail pulled by a maenad.
Style: Read only
In typical Archaic style, the painter has
drawn the figures in pure profile or in full
frontal view with no attempt at
foreshortening. In this way, the contours of
each figure stand out clearly against the
background, and the composition
becomes a decorative design. Incised
lines and added white and red glaze
enliven the black silhouettes.
Style
• Everyone proceeds in the same direction;
dancers lift their feet and wave their arms in an
exuberant manner.
Treatment of figure
• Incised lines
and added
white and red
glaze enliven
the black
silhouettes.
Treatment of figure
• Each figure
moves lively
and freely in
different
movement from
each other
Treatment of figure
• In typical Archaic
style, the painter has
drawn the figures in
pure profile or in full
frontal view with no
attempt at
foreshortening.
Composition
•
•
•
•
On a single plane
One decorative band
No overlapping figures
In this way, the contours of each figure
stand out clearly against the background,
and the composition becomes a
decorative design.
Master of the Grand Style
• This column-krater ranks among the
acknowledged masterpieces by Lydos, an
________ vase painter whose name is known
from two ___________________.
• _____ vases are ________ to him, and several
__________ more were painted in his manner
by ____________ and companions.
• This vase shows Lydos at the height of his
development, shortly after the _____________
century B.C.