Closer Look: Women Artist of
Ancient Greece
Although comparatively few artists in ancient Greece were women,
there is evidence that women artists worked in many media. Ancient
writers noted women painters, Pliny the Elder, for example, listed
Aristarte, Eirene, Iaia, Kalypso, Olympias, and Timarete. Helen, a
painter from Egypt who had been taught by her father, is known to have
worked in the 4th century BCE and many have been responsible for the
original training of women painters.
Hydria, Red-figure vase, Athens, c. 450 BCE.
Citation: Stokstad, M. + Cothren, M. (2008). Art: A brief history. Boston, MA:Pearson.
Image One
Black Figure Amphora, 540 BCE, Munich State Collection of Antiquities
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or blackfigure ceramic is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases.
Figures and ornaments were painted on the body of the vessel using shapes
and colors reminiscent of silhouettes.
Image Two
Athena, Black-Figured Hydria by the potter Panphaios, 540BCE, Paris, France.
Black-figure painting on vases was the first art style to give rise to a
significant number of identifiable women artists. Some are known by their
true names, others only by the names given to them through archeological
scholars. Attica was the home town of several well-known artists. This is
where training took place and women artists could be introduced to
innovations with frequently influenced the work of the painters. These vases
the most important art form to communicated mythology and iconography.
Guiding Questions
1. What was the significance of the Greek town known as Attica?
2. How do the Black-Figure Vases communicate myths?
PERSONAL CONNECTION:
How has the study of Ancient Greek Pottery contribute to your knowledge of women
artists in antiquity? What have you learned about painting from copying an image?