The Codrus Painter: Iconography and Reception of Athenian Vases in the Age of Pericles

Preface

xi situation of his age, but also excerpts from daily life. His career coincides with the decade leading to the Peloponnesian War, a period that saw both the construction of the Parthenon and rising conflict with Sparta; his vase paintings reproduce the atmosphere of this era, depicting mythological episodes that promote the Athenian ideal of autochthony and show the departures of warriors. At the same time his cups preserve exquisite athletic scenes, granting us a glimpse inside the palaistras and baths of Periclean Athens. In addition, the influence of his time is evident in a more concrete way, as he copies figure-types, subjects, and sculptural qualities from contemporary reliefs and statues, the influence of Phidias and his workshop being particularly notable. After ascribing vases to a single painter and his Circle, the study moves on to a different level: that of trade. Not all painters targeted the same markets, nor did they decorate their vases with the same subjects. What is intriguing about the Codrus Painter is the fact that almost all the vases attributed to his hand, and even those associated with his Circle, were discovered outside Greece, based on our current knowledge of their provenance. (The exceptions are two fragments, the Acropolis fragment [cat. 7, pl. 4] and the Brauron cup [cat. 20, pl. 11].) Not a single sherd by the Codrus Painter has been found on the Aegean islands, in Asia Minor, or further east, with the rather late exception of a cup in his Manner unearthed in the Black Sea area (cat. 80). In contrast to other vase-painters of his age, the Codrus Painter appears to have targeted the Italian market almost exclusively, and primarily Etruscan sites, while producing only one shape: the much desired kylix. In this book I present the characteristic traits of the Codrus Painter’s style and describe how they differentiate him from members of his Circle; I also compare his work with I t was a seminar on autochthony held by Professors Marcel Detienne and Alan Shapiro at Johns Hopkins University that initially inspired me to examine the work of the Codrus Painter and to become better acquainted with his repertory, style, and preferred export markets. Little did I know then that the iconographic core of the present study would evolve from that first paper. There has been a lot of discussion in the past regarding John Beazley’s methodology, the validity of attributing Attic figurative vases to specific hands, and the value of trying to reconstruct the character of a painter and his workshop based on these attributions.1 I do not feel the need to defend the study of a single vase-painter, as others have done that much more eloquently. I will, however, explain here why I chose to examine the work of the Codrus Painter and how I think a book on the iconography of his vases and their reception in non-Greek areas contributes to the field of classical art and archaeology. Gathering vases of identical or similar style under the artificial name of a single painter, and building around this persona a group of apprentices and followers, allows us to discover the links of collaboration between various pottery workshops within Athens and create a useful chronological tool. Once we begin tracing stylistic influences, we may compare the use of motifs and patterns, explore the impact of contemporary sculpture and painting, and place these modest clay objects within the bigger frame of artistic production . Considering the limited preservation of sculptures and monumental paintings from antiquity, the study of vases offers one way to obtain a fuller notion of the visual arts. The Codrus Painter specialized in the decoration of drinking cups. Most of the vases attributed to his own hand are of excellent quality and reveal expressive drawing , illustrating subjects that reflect not only the historical P R E FA C E xii Preface terdependence. We all wish that we had more names of craftsmen, more objects with known provenance, and more securely identified and dated archaeological contexts in order to create the most reliable picture of antiquity; but until that day comes, we need to study the style and iconography of Attic vases, along with poorly preserved architectural remains, mutilated sculptures, and ambiguous texts, in order to reconstruct parts of the ancient world. If we do otherwise, we exclude a significant source of information . that of contemporary painters, without, however, pursuing an exhaustive study...