Oltos
Encyclopedia
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, active 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...
. From the time between 525 BC and 500 BC, about 150 works by him are known. Two pieces, a cup in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
(Antikensammlung
Antikensammlung Berlin
The Antikensammlung Berlin is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological artefacts from the ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Cypriot civilizations...
F 2264) and a cup in Tarquinia
Tarquinia
Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.- History :Tarquinii is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen...
(Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese RC 6848), are signed by him as painter.
Oltos is thought to have begun his career in the workshop of the potter Nikosthenes
Nikosthenes
Nikosthenes was a potter of Greek black- and red-figure pottery in the time window 545-510 B.C. He is thought to have been associated with the work of the painters Oltos, Lydos, Epiktetos and the Nikosthenes-Painter....
. Initially, he mainly painted bilingual vases or bowls with interior black-figure
Black-figure pottery
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic is one of the most modern styles for adorning antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, although there are specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BC...
and exterior red-figure
Red-figure pottery
Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 530 BC and remained in use until the late 3rd century BC. It replaced the previously dominant style of Black-figure vase painting within a few decades...
decoration. His black-figure style was influenced by Psiax
Psiax
Psiax was an Attic vase painter of the transitional period between the black-figure and red-figure styles. His works date to circa 525 to 505 BC and comprise about 60 surviving vases, two of which bear his signature. Initially he was allocated the name Menon Painter by John Beazley...
and the Antimenes Painter
Antimenes painter
The Antimenes Painter was an Attic vase painter of the black-figure style, active between circa 530 and 510 BC.The real name of the Antimenes Painter is not known; his current name is an archaeological convention. It is derived from the Kalos inscription on a hydria in Leyden. Of the 150 works...
. No pure black-figure works by Oltos are yet known. His tondos
Tondo (art)
A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, "round." The term is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about 60 cm in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait...
usually depict a single figure. They are often full of tension, frequently with differential directions of gaze and movement. Later, he exclusively painted red-figure, influenced especially by the Andokides Painter
Andokides Painter
The Andokides painter was an ancient Athenian vase painter who was active from 530 to approximately 515 BCE. His work is unsigned; he is named after Andokides, the potter for whom he worked. He is believed to be the inventor of the red figure style of vase painting.-Beginnings of his art:The...
as well as several members of the Pioneer Group
Pioneer Group
The Pioneer Group were a number of red-figure vase painters working in Kerameikos or the potters' quarter of Athens around the beginning of the 5th century BCE. Characterized by John Boardman as perhaps the first conscious art movement in the western tradition, the group comprised the painters...
, especially his former pupil Euphronios
Euphronios
Euphronios was an ancient Greek vase painter and potter, active in Athens in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. As part of the so-called "Pioneer Group,"...
.
His drawing style was spacious and elegant, but never reached the depth of detail of his most important contemporary masters. He had a distinctive tendency towards luxurious ornamentation and symmetric compositions. In the middle of his career he concentrated especially on the depiction of mythological scenes. Over time, he worked with several different potters. We know of at least six: Hischylos, most importantly Pamphaios
Pamphaios
Pamphaios was an Attic vase painter active around the end of the 6th century BC.Pampphaios was the successor of Nikosthenes in that artist's workshop, and thus took over from one of the most influential and creative potters of antiquity...
, with whom he created the earliest known stamnos
Stamnos
A stamnos is a type of Greek pottery used to store liquids. It is much squatter than an amphora and has two stubby handles relatively high on its sides. It is a relatively unusual container form. Generally, it was used for mixing and storing....
, Tleson
Tleson
Vase painters etcTleson was an Attic potter and perhaps also a vase painter in the black-figure style.He was the son of the famous potter Nearchos and brother of Ergoteles.His workshop apparently produced mostly Little-master cups...
, Chelis
Chelis
Chelis is a genus of moths in the Arctiidae family.-Species:* Chelis caecilia * Chelis dahurica * Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988* Chelis maculosa...
, and finally Kachrylion
Kachrylion
Kachrylion was a potter of Greek red-figure pottery at the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th century. At his pottery had worked some of the most important attic-Greek vase painters of these timse, so Euphronios and Oltos. He signed 29 kylixes and one plate.-Literature:*John Beazley:...
, for whom he worked together with Euphronios, as well as Euxitheos.
An innovation introduced by Oltos is found on an amphora
Amphora
An amphora is a type of vase-shaped, usually ceramic container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body...
at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
E 259). Here, he depicts a single figure, with no frame or floor line.
Selected works
- AltenburgAltenburgAltenburg is a town in the German federal state of Thuringia, 45 km south of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district.-Geography:...
, Staatliches Lindenau-Museum – bowl 224 - BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
Museum – fragment of a kylix AIA B1 - BaselBaselBasel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Antikensammlung and Sammlung Ludwig – bowl BS 459 - BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, AntikensammlungAntikensammlung BerlinThe Antikensammlung Berlin is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological artefacts from the ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Cypriot civilizations...
– bowl F 2263 • bowl F 2264 • phiale F 2310 • bowl F 4220 • bowl F 4221 - BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Museum of Fine ArtsMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
– kylix 13.83 • fragment of a kylix 08.31d • fragment 10.219 - BowdoinBowdoin-Places:In the United States:* Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine* Bowdoin, Maine, a town* Bowdoin Street , in Massachusetts** Bowdoin * Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge, Montana...
, Bowdoin CollegeBowdoin CollegeBowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
Museum of Art – fragment of a kylix 1913.14 - ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
(David and Alfred Smart Gallery) – kylix 1967.115 - FayettevilleFayetteville, ArkansasFayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
, The University Museum – kylix 56.25.15 - LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, The British Museum – kylix E 41 • amphora E 258 • stamnos E 437 - Malibu, J. Paul Getty MuseumJ. Paul Getty MuseumThe J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
– kylix 86.AE.276 • kylix 86.AE.277 - Mount HolyokeMount HolyokeMount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation , is the western-most peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the namesake of nearby Mount Holyoke College. The mountain is located in...
, Mount Holyoke College Art MuseumMount Holyoke College Art MuseumThe Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in South Hadley, Massachusetts is located on the Mount Holyoke College campus and is a member of Museums10. It is one of the oldest "teaching museums" in the country, "dedicated to providing firsthand experience with works of significant aesthetic and...
– kylix 1967.BS.II.11 - MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Staatliche AntikensammlungenStaatliche AntikensammlungenThe Staatliche Antikensammlungen in the Kunstareal of Munich is a museum for the Bavarian state's antique collections for Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. The Bavarian state collection of Ancient Egyptian art is traditionally placed in its own museum...
– bowl 25 93 • bowl 2618 - New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
– psykter 1989.281.69 - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Musée National du LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
– fragment CA 3662 • amphora G 2 • amphora G 3 - TarquiniaTarquiniaTarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.- History :Tarquinii is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen...
, Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese – bowl RC 6848 - VaticanVatican MuseumsThe Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and...
, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco Vaticano – bowl 498 - ParmaParmaParma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, Museo Archeologico Nazionale – kylix (520-510 b.C)
