LydosMaster 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: ColumnKraterPotter & Painter: LydosDate: 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

signednineteen 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.

LydosRead 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 twenty-seven 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 unheardAre 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.