Sicilian vase painting was a regional style of South Italian red-figure vase painting. It was one of five South Italian

South Italian

South Italian is a designation for ancient Greek pottery fabricated in Magna Graecia largely during the 4th century BC. The fact that Greek Southern Italy produced its own red figure pottery as early as the end of the 5th century BC. was first established by Adolf Furtwaengler in 1893...

 regional styles. The vase painting of Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 was especially closely connected with the Lucanian

Lucanian vase painting

Lucanian vase painting was substyle of South Italian red-figure vase painting, produced in Lucania between 450 and 325 BC. It was the oldest South Italian regional style. Together with Sicilian and Paestan vase painting, it formed a close stylistic community....

 and Paestan

Paestan vase painting

Paestan vase painting was a style of vase painting associated with Paestum, a Campanian city in Italy founded by Greek colonists. Paestan vase painting is one of five regional styles of South Italian red-figure vase painting.-Development:...

 styles.

The beginnings of Sicilian vase painting remain mysterious. Production began before the end of the 5th century BC in the cities of Himera

Himera

thumb|250px|Remains of the Temple of Victory.thumb|250px|Ideal reconstruction of the Temple of Victory.Himera , was an important ancient Greek city of Sicily, situated on the north coast of the island, at the mouth of the river of the same name , between Panormus and Cephaloedium...

 and Syracusae. In terms of style, themes, ornamentation and vase shapes, the workshops closely followed Attic examples. The influence of the Attic Late Classical Medias Painter is especially striking. It is possible that the first potters and painters were Athenian prisoners of war (see Sicilian expedition

Sicilian Expedition

The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian expedition to Sicily from 415 BC to 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. The expedition was hampered from the outset by uncertainty in its purpose and command structure—political maneuvering in Athens swelled a lightweight force of twenty ships into a...

). The Chessboard Painter, one of the first Sicilian vase painters, had apparently been trained by the Attic Pothos Painter. His pupil, the Dirke Painter, established the typical Siclian technique. In the second quarter of the 4th century BC, potters who had emigrated from Sicily to Capua

Capua

Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...

 and Cumae

Cumae

Cumae is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Cumae was the first Greek colony on the mainland of Italy , and the seat of the Cumaean Sibyl...

 in Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

 and to Paestum

Paestum

Paestum is the classical Roman name of a major Graeco-Roman city in the Campania region of Italy. It is located in the north of Cilento, near the coast about 85 km SE of Naples in the province of Salerno, and belongs to the commune of Capaccio, officially also named...

 founded production centres there. Only Syracusae retained a limited vase production then.

The typical Sicilian vase painting only came into existence around 340 BC. Three groups of workshops can be distinguished. The first, known as the Lentini-Manfria Group was active in Syracuase and Gela

Gela

Gela is a town and comune in the province of Caltanissetta in the south of Sicily, Italy. The city is at about 84 kilometers distance from the city of Caltanissetta, on the Mediterranean Sea. The city has a larger population than the provincial capital, and ranks second in land area.Gela is an...

, a second group (Centuripe Class

Centuripe Class

The term Centuripe Class is used by archaeologists to describe a type of polychrome Sicilian vase painting from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.The Centuripe Class is named after ist main find location, Centuripe. The painted vases shapes were usually pyxides, lebetes and lekanes. The vessels are...

) was based near Mount Aetna, a third on Lipari

Lipari

Lipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the north coast of Sicily, and the name of the island's main town. It has a permanent population of 11,231; during the May–September tourist season, its population may reach up to 20,000....

. The clay of the vases is pale pink, the black paint is off matt tone and has a tendency to flake off easily. Particularly typical of Sicilian vase painting is the use of additional colours, notably of white paint. Especially in the initial phase, large vessels such as chalice kraters, volute kraters and 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 were painted, but small vessels such as bottles, lekanes, lekythoi

Lekythos

A lekythos is a type of Greek pottery used for storing oil , especially olive oil. It has a narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel. The lekythos was used for anointing dead bodies of unmarried men and many lekythoi are found in tombs. The images on lekythoi were often...

and skyphoid

Skyphos

In classifying the pottery of Ancient Greece, a skyphos is a two-handled deep wine-cup on a low flanged base or none. The handles may be horizontal ear-shaped thumbholds that project from the rim , or they may be loop handles at the rim or that stand away from the lower part of the body...

 pyxides

Pyxis

Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for a mariner's compass...

are also typical. Popular themes included scenes from female life, erotes

Eros

Eros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....

, women's heads and phlyax scenes. Mythological motifs are rare. Like in other areas, vase painting in Sicily ceased around 300 BC.

Sicilian vase painting was only recognised relatively late. By now, about 1,000 vases are known.