Eucharides Painter

Eucharides Painter is the common nickname of an ancient Greek artist who decorated but did not sign attic vases. Neither his real name, nor the dates of his birth and death are known. Presumably this artist was a pupil of the Nikoxenos painter.

The name was introduced in 1911 by John Beazley, a classical historian at the University of Oxford who had a special interest in attic vases. Through close examination of stylistic details, Beazley and other scholars recognized pieces painted by the same artist. In this case, the nickname appreciates the anonymous painter's repeated use of kalos inscriptions praising the beauty of a named young boy. A vase with the inscription καλος Ευχαριδης ("kalos Eucharides", i.e. Eucharides is beautiful) became the source of the artist's name.

The Eucharides painter was working in Athens in the years from about 500 BC to 470 BC. At this time the technique of vase painting switched from black-figured to red-figured illustrations, a process commonly attributed to the Andokides Painter. Correspondingly, both black-figured and red-figured vases are attributed to the Eucharides painter. Their shapes range from large kraters to small cups. Scenes were drawn from mythology and daily life.

Many of this artist's known works were retrieved from Etruscan tombs in Italy. Recently, one of his attic vases was claimed to be looted and was repossessed by the Italian State. NY Observer NY Times