Sophilos was an Attic

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...

 potter and vase painter in the black-figure style

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...

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Sophilos is the oldest Attic vase painter to be so far known by his true name. Fragments of two wine basins '’dinoi

Dinos

In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the dinos is a mixing bowl. Dinos means "drinking cup," but in modern typology is used for the same shape as a lebes, that is, a bowl with a spherical body meant to sit on a stand...

’’ in Athens are signed by him, indicating that he both potted and painted them. In total, 37 vessels are ascribed to him, mostly 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, '’dinoi’’, krater

Krater

A krater was a large vase used to mix wine and water in Ancient Greece.-Form and function:...

s, as well as three pinakes

Pinax

In the culture of ancient Greece and Magna Graecia, a pinax or a "board", denotes a votive tablet of painted wood, terracotta, marble or bronze that served as a votive object deposited in a sanctuary or as a memorial affixed within a burial chamber. In daily life pinax might equally denote a...

. Apart from his work for the domestic market, he was also one of the masters of major significance in the process of supplanting the dominance of Corinthian vase painting in the markets of Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...

, and South Italy

South Italy

South Italy is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics , a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. South Italy encompasses six of the country's 20 regions:*Abruzzo...

, the most important export area for Greek vases. His works were exported as far as the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 region, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 (Naukratis).
He was one of the first painters to use additional colours at a grand scale, thus increasing the optical and artistic distinction between Corinthian and Attic vase painting. While he was conservative and traditionalist in terms of the ornament

Ornament

An ornament is something used for decoration.Ornament may also refer to:*Christmas ornaments, an ornament hung from a Christmas tree*Ornament , purely decorative elements in architecture and the decorative arts*Ornament *Ornamental plant...

ation and animal figures he used, his intervening figural scenes, mostly of mythological

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 motifs, were entirely innovative. He broke up established standard scenes, had figures act individually, and found clever and unconventional new ways of structuring the narrative. As his artistic style progressed, he increasingly pushed ornamental designs into the margin, as his figural scenes became more and more important. Stylistically, his work is close to that of the late Gorgon painter

Gorgon Painter

The Gorgon Painter was one of the first Attic black-figure vase painters. He was active between 600 and 580 BC.The Gorgon Painter is considered as the very productive successor of the Nessos Painter, whose fanciful style ha adopted, adapted and organised. His conventional name is based on his name...

, whose style he developed further, to be continued later by Klitias, and culminate in the François vase

François Vase

The François Vase, a milestone in the development of Greek pottery, is a large volute krater decorated in the black-figure style which stands at 66cm in height. Dated at circa 570/560 BCE it was found in 1844 in an Etruscan tomb in the necropolis of Fonte Rotella near Chiusi and named after its...

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In spite of his innovative pictorial compositions and his talent to constantly invent new scenes; his drawing style was usually not very accurate. The overall impact of his works is hardly diminished by that.

Works (Selection)

• Athens, National Archaeological Museum
  National Archaeological Museum
  National Archaeological Museum may refer to:* National Archaeological Museum, Athens, * National Archaeological Museum * National Archaeological Museum ,...
  
  ’’’

Neck amphora 991 • Chalice krater 995 • Neck amphora 1036 • Fragment of a '’dinos’’ 15499

• formerly Berlin, 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...
  
  

Belly amphora F 1683 (lost 1945)

• Boston, Museum of Fine Arts

Tripod kothon98.915

• Jena, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität

Amphora

• London, 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...
  
  

’’Dinos’’ 1971.11-11

Source of Translation