Pistoxenos Painter

The Pistoxenos Painter was an important ancient Greek vase painter of the Classical period. He was active in Athens between circa 480 and 460 BC. His conventional name is derived from his name vase. The vase, a skyphos, now at Schwerin, has a signature indicating that it was made by the potter Pistoxenos. It depicts Iphikles being taught music by Linos, and Heracles accompanied by his tattooed Thracian servant Geropso. The Pistoxenos Painter probably started his apprenticeship with the Antiphon Painter in the workshop of Euphronios. He specialized in kylikes, which he painted in the red-figure style. Some of his best pieces, however, were produced in the White Ground Technique. The most important motifs of his paintings are horses, warriors and thiasos imagery. He was one of the first painters to employ four-colour polychromy, using slip, paints and gilding. This style often resembles monumental painting. In his later works he grew so skillful that he could omit the "relief line". Stylistically, he is close to the Penthesilea Painter. His kalos inscriptions refer to the names Lysis, Glaukon and Megakles.

Athenian red-figure vase-painter whose name is unknown. Nevertheless consistent individual characteristics of style suggest the existence of a unique artistic personality. Beazley called him the Pistoxenos Painter naming him after a skyphos in Schwerin he decorated that was signed by the potter Pistoxenos (q.v.). He also decorated cups signed by the potter Euphronios (q.v.) and was a pupil of the Antiphon Painter (q.v.). Working mainly in red-figure, he brought the delicacy of Late Archaic vase-painting into the Early Classical style and also produced white-ground tondi of great elegance. Many vases have been attributed to his hand on the basis of style.