Polygnotos and vase painting in classical Athens

Abstract

Susan B. Matheson has written a detailed analysis of the work of Polygnotos, a major vase painter of classical Athens whose workshop flourished for 50 years, from the golden age of Pericles to the end of the 5th century. Inspired by the monumental art of Pheidias and other sculptors who defined 5th-century classical style, Polygnotos and his workshop reflected this style as it emerged from the sculptures of the Parthenon. Matheson provides a comprehensive chronology for Polygnotos's own works. She compares the evolving Polygnotan style to that of contemporary Athenian workshops and demonstrates its seminal influence on the later vase painting of southern Italy. She then surveys Polygnotan iconography to show its relation to contemporary vase painting and sculpture, emphasising both its originality and its continuity with Athenian iconographic traditions. RThe more than 600 pieces discussed here, 171 of which are illustrated, reflect the diverse religious, historical and intellectual trends in Periclean Athens. Some vases bear innovative representations of myths from the dramas of Sophocles and Aeschylus, while others portray the religious sacrifices and rituals of Athenian civic life. Perhaps the most arresting, though, reveal the private life of Athens - drunken revellers at symposia, women conversing together, a sombre young man departing for war.