Psiax
Encyclopedia
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
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
John Beazley
Sir John Davidson Beazley was an English classical scholar.Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Beazley attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a close friend of the poet James Elroy Flecker. After graduating in 1907, Beazley was a student and tutor in Classics at Christ Church, and in 1925 he...
. Only later was it realised that the artist was identical with the painters signing as Psiax.
Psiax collaborated with the potters Hilinos, Menon, Andokides
Andokides
Andokides was a famous potter of Ancient Greece. The painter of his pots was an anonymous artist, the Andokides painter, who is recognized as the creater of the red-figure style, beginning around 530 BC. His work is compared with Exekias, who was said to have created the most detailed and best...
and 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....
. While he started as a painter in the black-figure technique, he played a major role in the early development of red-figure, which was invented in the workshop of Andokides. The black-figure 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...
, working for the same workshop, was stylistically close to Psiax; Beazley described the two as brothers. Perhaps unsurprisingly ,considering his chronological position, Psiax was a master of bilingual vase painting. Formerly called the Menon Painter, after the potter’s signature on a red-figure amphora (Philadelphia, U. PA, Mus., 5349), he signed two red-figure alabastra as painter, both of which bear the signature of the potter Hilinos [Karlsruhe, Bad. Landesmus., 242 (B 120) and Odessa, A. Mus.]. Psiax also knew white-ground pottery techniques, as well as coral red pottery techniques.
His signature is only known from two red-figure alabastra
Alabastron
An alabastron is a type of pottery used in the ancient world for holding oil, especially perfume or massage oils...
at Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
and Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, both also signed by the potter Hilinos. Three of the vases by him are signed by the potter Andokides. The fact that he painted kyathoi
Kyathos
Kyathos is the name given in modern terminology to a type of painted ancient Greek vase with a tall, round, slightly tapering bowl and a single, flat, long, looping handle. Its closest modern parallel would be a ladle....
and used the Six technique
Six's technique
Six's technique was a technique used by Attic black-figure vase painters first described by the Dutch scholar Jan Six in 1888 It involves laying on figures in white or red on a black surface and incising the details so that the black shows through. It was in regular use for the decoration of the...
indicates that he also collaborated with Nikosthenes.
In his early phase, Epiktetos
Epiktetos
Epiktetos was an Attic vase painter in the early red-figure style. Besides Oltos, he is the most important painter of the Pioneer Group. He was active between 520 and 490 BC...
imitated Psiax. The Pioneers
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...
Euphornios and Phintias were taught by Psiax.
Psiax mostly painted smaller vessels, appropriate to his fine painting style. Nevertheless, larger vases by him are also known, such as amphora
Amphora
An amphora is a type of vase-shaped, usually ceramic container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body...
e, hydria
Hydria
A hydria is a type of Greek pottery used for carrying water. The hydria has three handles. Two horizontal handles on either side of the body of the pot were used for lifting and carrying the pot. The third handle, a vertical one, located in the center of the other two handles, was used when...
i and chalice kraters. On those, too, his figures are not so much powerful and lively but rather dignified and restrained. Although he experimented with the possibilities offered by the new technique (perspective), he concentrated more on the fine detail and decorative effect typical of Late Archaic art. He did not limit his activity to black-figure or red-figure but also experimented with black figures on white or coral-red ground and with the Six Technique.
His choice of subjects is conventional; arguably with a preference for scenes with horses and archers.
Works (selection)
- BresciaBresciaBrescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, Museo
- black-figure belly amphoraAmphoraAn amphora is a type of vase-shaped, usually ceramic container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body...
- KarlsruheKarlsruheThe City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Badisches Landesmuseum
- Karlsruhe
- B 120 red-figure alabastronAlabastronAn alabastron is a type of pottery used in the ancient world for holding oil, especially perfume or massage oils...
(signed; potter: Hilinos)- 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...
, British MuseumBritish MuseumThe 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...
- London
- 1980.10-29.1 (formerly Castle AshbyCastle AshbyCastle Ashby is the name of a civil parish, an estate village and an English country house in rural Northamptonshire. Historically the village was set up to service the needs of Castle Ashby Manor, the seat of the Marquess of Northampton. The village has one small pub-hotel, The Falcon. At the time...
) black-figure neck amphora (potter: AndokidesAndokidesAndokides was a famous potter of Ancient Greece. The painter of his pots was an anonymous artist, the Andokides painter, who is recognized as the creater of the red-figure style, beginning around 530 BC. His work is compared with Exekias, who was said to have created the most detailed and best...
)- Neck front: Dionysos between two satyrSatyrIn Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
s, back: Warrior in chariot in frontal perspective between two youths http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0043&query=London%201980.10-29.1 http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ3530- MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Museo Arqueologico Nacional
- Madrid
- Neck front: Dionysos between two satyr
- 11008 (L 63) bilingual belly amphora (potter: Andokides)
- Front: ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
with kitharaKitharaThe kithara or cithara was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the lyre or lyra family. In modern Greek the word kithara has come to mean "guitar" ....
between ArtemisArtemisArtemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
, LetoLetoIn Greek mythology, Leto is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, the Letoides, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus...
and AresAresAres is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
; back: Dionysos with kantharosKantharosA kantharos or cantharus is a type of Greek pottery used for drinking. It is characterized by its high swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot.The god Dionysus had a kantharos which was never empty....
between satyrs and maenads http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/Test/Vases/ASP/ViewDetails.asp?Vnum=200022- MalibuMalibuMalibu may refer to:Places:* Malibu, Baja California, a beach in Rosarito Beach Municipality, Baja California* Malibu, British Columbia, a camp near the entrance of Princess Louisa Inlet...
, 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...
- Malibu
- Front: Apollo
- 86.AE.278 red-figure cup http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=14151
- 90.AE.122 black-figure mastos http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=15193
- 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
- New York
- 63.11.6 red-figure belly amphora with black-figure lip
- Front: fight over the tripod, back: Dionysos with kantharos between maenad and satyr (Lip: Psiax, main images: Andokides Painter) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vase/ho_63.11.6.htm
- OdessaOdessaOdessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Archaeological Museum
- Odessa
- Front: fight over the tripod, back: Dionysos with kantharos between maenad and satyr (Lip: Psiax, main images: Andokides Painter) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vase/ho_63.11.6.htm
- 266602 red-figure alabastron (signed; potter: Hilinos)
- Philadelphia, University Museum
- 5349 red-figure belly amphora (potter: Menon)