Euphronios - Late Phase

Late Phase

Euphronios's later works are partially beset by difficulties of attribution. In many cases, this is due to direct imitation or echoes of his own artistic style in the work of other painters working during his lifetime.

Well known is an unsigned volute krater, found in the 18th century near Arezzo. The main scene on the belly of the vase can easily be attributed to Euphronios. The krater shows a combat scene, with Heracles and Telamon at the center, fighting amazons. Telamon delivers the deathblow to a wounded amazon in Scythian clothing. Heracles is fighting the amazon Teisipyle, who is aiming an arrow at him. This late work is another example of Euphronios's search for new forms of expression. The scene is characterized by an impressive dynamic, which seems to have taken control of the artist, as he painted Telamon's leg in a very twisted position. The small frieze of komastes around the neck of the vase is problematic in terms of attribution. It may be by one of the master's assistants, perhaps by Smikros.

That particular krater appears to have been a central work, influencing and inspiring many others. For example, a neck amphora (Louvre G 107) shows a nearly identical scene, but in a style quite different from that of Euphronios. On it, Heracles is accompanied by a mysterious inscription: He appears to belong to Smikros. Perhaps it is a cooperation by both artists. A different situation applies to an amphora (Leningrad 610) that also shows a similar scene to the krater descried above, but depicts Heracles as an archer. As the piece is similar to Euphronios's work not only in terms of motif but also of artistic style, Beazley hesitantly ascribed it to the master. The problem is that at this point, the style and skills of Smikros had grown very similar to those of his teacher, making it difficult to distinguish their works.

Euphronios's final works (Louvre G 33, Louvre G 43) are characterized by strong simplification. The motifs are less carefully composed than earlier works, probably because Euphronios concentrated on a different occupation from 500 BC onwards.