10 famous Red-figure pottery of Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek vases have been found in the 2nd century B.C. right until the end of the 1st century B.C., when Greek pottery used to be traded from one region of Greece to the other. At first, various local designs in vase painting prospered, however toward the middle of the 6th century B.C. the glass vases from Attica had maxed out in number and quality compared to their closest competitor Corinth, with whom they were fighting for the profitable markets overseas. Such an Attic domination never went past but rather survived a century and a half and made it through a lot of political upheavals and wars, prior to the devastating ending of the Peloponnesian war in 404 B.C. where Athens got robbed of all its lucrative markets in the West.

When Attic pottery slowly started declining, no vases were painted from middle of the 4th century, yet, there are some clear evidences of vase paintings in other places of Greece. The oldest Greek vases were coated mainly with basic ornamental styles and barely diverged from pottery made in other places of the world. Without a doubt, a few endeavors at sharing a story as of now are present in Mycenaean vases from the late Bronze Age, however natural decoration remains to be the predominating element, and vases that carry human issues are a specific minority.

Unlike Greek vase painting, the main appeal of Mycenaean vases design had been the ebullient concepts extracted from sea life, nonetheless toward the very end of the 2nd century BC, an entire artistic reversion occurred. This subsequent design was identified as “geometric” and, as the name suggests, the rigid, organized designs are drawn from whether a compass or a ruler.

With serious and determined studies of Greek painted ceramics from in the 18th century, what we can say is the examination of Greek vase paintings definitely holds a critical status when it comes to classical archaeology.

The idea of Greek vase painting in itself is viewed somewhat in a different way by scholars; many, for instance, see painted vases from the Greek Bronze Age, while some don’t. The majority of scholars and historians include Hellenistic, Geometric and Protogeometric as painted vases, however the crucial foundation, that the majority of the historians are focused, is the figured vases from Classical periods (700-323 B.C.E.).

The principle emphasis of the research into Greek vase painting has evolved throughout the generations, just as the amount of importance on several factors like interpretation of subject, typology, chronology, collecting, attribution and cataloguing. Even though the study persists at present in all of these aspects, a lot more focus has been positioned on trade, context, shapes and the practical elements of production.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the evergreen 10 Ancient Greek Vase Paintings.

1 Achilles and Pentheselia Vase

Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War and the greatest warrior of Homer’s Iliad can be seen in the painting holding Pentheselia, an Amazonian queen who was the sister of Antiope, Hippolyta and Melanippe, and the daughter of Ares and Otrera.

2 Achilles and Pentheselia on the Plain of Troy, with Athena, Aphrodite and Eros

This Greek Vase painting is again of Achilles and Pentheselia, but this time its pictured in the plain lands of Troy with the Greek gods and goddesses –namely Athena, Aphrodite and Eros.

3 Aeneas

The painting has the trojan hero Aeneas who is the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Venus (Aphrodite).

 4 Amymone

Amymone is depicted as a “blameless” one in the painting. She was a daughter of Danaus.

 5 Ariadnen

Ariadne was acyually a vegetation goddess in Crete linked to some other Cretan goddesses particularly Britomartis. She was discovered by Dionysus, asleep on the Island of Naxos.

6 Hector

Hector, in Greek mythology, was the most sifnificant fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. In fact, he was the the founder of Troy and a descendant of Tros and Dardanus.

 7 Hippolyta

Hippolyta, in Greek mythology,was the Amazonian queen who had a magical girdle she was given by her father Ares, the god of war.

See Also,
Top 20 Amazing Pieces of Ancient Greek Art

 8 Maenad

Maenads were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant followers of the Thiasus, the god’s worshippers. In this particular vase painting, one of the Maenads is depicted carrying a Skyphos.

 9 Peleus and Thetis

The story of Peleus and Thetis is still one of the most popular ones from the ancient Greek mythology. Peleus was a brave hero while Thetis was a sea nymph or known as the goddess of water.

10 Perseus and Andromeda Greek Vase Paintings

The story of Perseus and Andromeda consists of profound wisdom on the connections of male and female energies. Perseus was one of the most significant heroes of Greek mythology while the beautiful Andromeda was the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and queen Cassiopeia.