Boeotian vase painting was a regional style of ancient Greek vase painting. Since the Geometric period, and up to the 4th century BC, the region of Boeotia

Boeotia

Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...

 produced vases with ornamental and figural painted decoration, usually of lesser quality than the vase paintings from other areas.

The Geometric vase painting of Boeotia was rather lifeless and distinctly provincial, especially in comparison to the advanced produce of Attica. Often, it simply imitated Attic pottery. The Geomteric style was followed for an extended period by the so-called Subgeometric, before orientalising vase painting became dominant. During the orientalising period, floral and other ornamentation was especially popular. There was also some experimentation with added colours, mainly red and white, and also, to some extent, with figural motifs (animals and humans). Influences came mostly from Attica

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...

 and East Greece, than from the true centre of orientalising pottery, Corinth.
From the 6th to the 4th century BC, Boeotia produced black-figure vases. In the early 6th century, many Boeotian painters still used the orientalising silhouette technique. Thereafter, the followed Attic production particularly closely. At times, distinction between or ascription to the two areas is difficult, some material can also be confused with Corinthian vases. Often, Attic vases of low quality are mistaken as Boeotian. There was probably some level of exchange of personnel with Attica; in at least one case, an Attic artist emigrated to Boeotia Bird-Horse Painter, the same also probably applies to the Tokra Painter and certainly to the potter Teisias the Athenian. Important motifs included animal friezes, symposia and komasts

Komos

The Komos was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. Its precise nature has been difficult to reconstruct from the diverse literary sources and evidence derived from vase painting....

. Mythological

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 imagery is quite rare; when it occurs, it usually shows Herakles or Theseus

Theseus

For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...

. In the late 6th and early 5th centuries, a silhouette style prevailed. Painted shapes were predominatly kantharoi

Kantharos

A kantharos or cantharus is a type of Greek pottery used for drinking. It is characterized by its high swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot.The god Dionysus had a kantharos which was never empty....

, lekanai, kylikes

Kylix

Kylix may mean:* Kylix , a genus of snails in the family Drilliidae.*Kylix , a type of drinking cup used in ancient Greece*Kylix , a programming tool...

, plates and jugs. Between 420 and 350 BC, the Kabiria Group

Kabiria Group

The term Kabiria Group describes a type of Boeotian vases decorated in the black-figure technique. The term can also be used describe the artists producing vases of the type....

 were the dominant black-figure style in Boeotia. As in Athens, kalos inscription

Kalos inscription

The Kalos inscription was a form of epigraph found on Attic vases and graffiti in antiquity, common between 550 and 450 BC, and usually found on symposion vessels. The word καλός means "beautiful"; here it had an erotic connotation, and the inscription took the form of a youth's name, in the...

s occurred. Boeotian potters had a predilection to produce plastic vessels, also kantharoi with plastic applications and tripod

Tripod

A tripod is a portable three-legged frame, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The word comes from the Greek tripous, meaning "three feet". A tripod provides stability against downward forces, horizontal forces and moments about the...

-pyxides. Lekanis, kylix and neck amphora were adopted from Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. The paintings style often appears comical; komasts

Komos

The Komos was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. Its precise nature has been difficult to reconstruct from the diverse literary sources and evidence derived from vase painting....

 and satyr

Satyr

In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....

s were preferred motifs.

Boeotian red-figure vase painting flourished between the second half of the 5th and the first decades of the 4th centuries BC. By applying a red slip

Slip (ceramics)

A slip is a suspension in water of clay and/or other materials used in the production of ceramic ware. Deflocculant, such as sodium silicate, can be added to the slip to disperse the raw material particles...

 , the potters attempted to imitiate Attic products. This was necessary, as the clay of Boeotia was lighter in colour, roughly like yellow leather. A brown-black slip

Slip (ceramics)

A slip is a suspension in water of clay and/or other materials used in the production of ceramic ware. Deflocculant, such as sodium silicate, can be added to the slip to disperse the raw material particles...

  was then added. Inscriptions were often incised rather than painted on. The figures lack the three-dimensionality of their Attic models. Further, there is no true development of Boeotian red-figure, it merely attempts to copy Athenian forms of expression. The most important srtists were the Painter of the Judgement of Paris (following especially the examples of Polygnotos and the Lykaon Painter), the Painter of the Athens Argos Cup (resembling the Shuvalov Painter

Shuvalov Painter

The Shuvalov Painter was an Attic vase painter of the red-figure style, active between 440 and 410 BC, i.e. in the High Classical period ....

 and the Marlay Painter), as well as the Painter of the Great Athens Kantharos. The later is stylistically so close to the Attic Dinos Painter

Dinos Painter

The Dinos Painter was an Attic red-figure vase painter who was active during the second half of the 5th century BC. The Dinos Painter stood in the tradition of the Kleophon Painter, but was less serious. One or few figures are depicted as the centre of an event; the frieze-like depiction of the...

that it has been suggested he may have been taught by him.