Athena Painter
Encyclopedia
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
black-figure vase painter, active about 490 to 460 BC. His speciality were white-ground lekythoi
Lekythos
A lekythos is a type of Greek pottery used for storing oil , especially olive oil. It has a narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel. The lekythos was used for anointing dead bodies of unmarried men and many lekythoi are found in tombs. The images on lekythoi were often...
painted in the black-figure style.
His pseudonym, for his real name is unknown, refers to his preference for Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
in his choice of subjects. He was one of the last generation of black figure technique
Black-figure pottery
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic is one of the most modern styles for adorning antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, although there are specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BC...
painters.
The Athena Painter, along with the Theseus Painter, continued the tradition of painting large standard lekythoi. His black-figure work was of high quality. Apart from lekythoi, he mainly painted oinochai. Some archaeologists identify him with the red-figure Bowdoin Painter. They may, however, simply have worked in the same workshop. His workshop was one of the production centres that developed the painting of white-ground lekythoi, which was to become especially important in the 5th century BC.