Andokides painter

The Andokides Painter was a Greek vase painter working in the Athens region toward the end of the 6th century BC, roughly between 535 and 515 BC. He takes his name from the potter for whom he worked. Most specialists regard him as the inventor and first user of the red-figure technique, which would almost completely replace black-figure painting and shaped Attic pottery for nearly two centuries.

His career began within the black-figure tradition, probably as a pupil of Exekias. After experimenting with white paint on a black ground, he reversed the procedure: he left the red of the clay as the reserved background and painted the figures in black with a fine brush, allowing far more detail than incision did. The first evidence of this technique dates to around 530 BC, and it spread gradually.

During the transition he produced bilingual vases, mainly amphorae, with black-figure on one side and red-figure on the other, perhaps as samples for customers still unfamiliar with the novelty. An amphora in New York, combining both techniques with a white ground, may be one of his earliest works. Other potters, such as Oltos and Epiktetos, also experimented with these combinations, but most scholars date his pieces a few years earlier than theirs.

He signed nine vases, five of which he decorated himself, and about twenty red-figure pieces are attributed to him. His favourite subjects were mythological, featuring gods and heroes, above all Herakles. His early style is somewhat stiff, with incised lines for hair, yet he achieved great skill in detail and a richer use of red, moving toward deep brownish tones. His most famous amphora, in Munich and dated roughly to 520 to 510 BC, shows Athena approaching Herakles resting on a couch beneath a vine.

His legacy lies in anticipating the great red-figure masters, such as Euphronios, and in establishing a decorative language that dominated Athenian pottery.