The Dipylon Master was an ancient Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 vase painter who was active from around 760-750 BCE. He worked in 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...

, where he and his workshop produced large funerary vessels for those interred in the Dipylon cemetery, whence his name comes. His work belongs to the very Late stage of the Geometric Style

Geometric Style

Geometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterised largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, circa 900 BCE to 700 BCE...

, his vases served as grave markers and libation

Libation

A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit or in memory of those who have died. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today....

 receptacles for aristocratic graves and as such are decorated with a depiction of the prothesis scene representing the mourning of the deceased. Almost 50 vases have been attributed to the Dipylon Master and his workshop. His works are among the first figural scenes to be found on vases in Greece since the collapse of the Mycenean palace culture

Mycenaean Greece

Mycenaean Greece was a cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...

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