Berlin Painter - Forms and Repertoire

Forms and Repertoire

There are no painter signatures on any of the Berlin Painter's attributed works. The Berlin Painter began working in the Late Archaic style and helped develop the Classic style of Attic red-figure pottery. Over a long career he trained many younger vase-painters, including, probably, the Achilles Painter.

He produced a series of Panathenaic amphora, which are his only black- figure vases. The Panathenaic amphora featured a depiction of the event for which it was the prize, and on the opposite side Athena. The Athena on his Panathenaic amphora was always depicted with a gogenion on her shield. Although it appears that the panathenaic shape is his favorite, the Berlin Painter utilized a variety of different shapes. He painted a number of Nolan Amphora, and was responsible for the popularity of that form.

His painted figures are usually isolated or paired without framing devices against a glossy black ground, so integral to the forms of their superbly-made bodies that the wares themselves are thought also to have been produced in his shop. The tall figures often start near the middle of the vase and continue over the shoulder, stopping at the neck. He pays close attention to the drapery of their clothing, and their facial features. Most notable is the eye, which is typically open, long, and with the pupil towards the inner eye.

He is also known for his careful stopt key patterns, which border the bottom of his single figures, and are unique to the Berlin painter and his students. The pattern features alternating meander boxes with alternating saltire squares. The Berlin Painter used dilute glaze to add red tones onto his vases. This is clear on the fawn's coat in his namepiece. Fawns and Greek animals are popular themes in his work, which varied from mythological themes to athletes. His two most popular characters from mythology are Athena and Apollo. From the surviving vases, it is safe to assume that he was a major painter, there are over 400 vases and fragments attributed to him.

The majority of his works have been found across Italy. This may suggest that they were created for export to the Italian market. Many of his valued works were preserved as élite grave goods in the necropoli of Magna Graecia, notably at Vulci, Nola and Locri.