DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0231
CHAPTER XIII
classes of vases
Although the painting of vases is necessarily among the
lower forms of art, a form seldom practised by men of high
talent or originality, yet vases are an inestimable record of one
side of Greek art. They cannot reproduce the colouring of
Greek frescoes, nor the impression of their dignity and charm,
but they show us the character of grouping and of drawing in
Greek painting. They are first-hand documents, belonging to
the best period of art; treating the same subjects as were
treated by the great masters, and perhaps in a not dissimilar
way. They are mostly from the workshops of Athens, and
show some of the finer qualities of Attic work — simplicity,
grace, and a wonderful appreciation of the beauty of the human
form. And they are especially interesting as treating many
of the themes of Greek mythology in a way independent and
yet not very dissimilar from that of the poets.
Periods and Schools of Vases. — It is not intended here to give,
even in outline, a history of Greek vase-painting. No such
history quite suitable at present exists. The best are, in
English, H. B. Walters, History of Ancient Pottery; Harrison
and MacColl, Greek Vase-paintings; and the translation of E.
Pottier's Douris, with the catalogues of the British Museum
and the Ashmolean Museum. All that will be here given is
a statement of the principal classes of vases, with their countries
and periods.
(1) Minoan and Mycenaean age. — The prehistoric record
of Greece and Asia Minor has of late years been revealed, age
211
classes of vases
Although the painting of vases is necessarily among the
lower forms of art, a form seldom practised by men of high
talent or originality, yet vases are an inestimable record of one
side of Greek art. They cannot reproduce the colouring of
Greek frescoes, nor the impression of their dignity and charm,
but they show us the character of grouping and of drawing in
Greek painting. They are first-hand documents, belonging to
the best period of art; treating the same subjects as were
treated by the great masters, and perhaps in a not dissimilar
way. They are mostly from the workshops of Athens, and
show some of the finer qualities of Attic work — simplicity,
grace, and a wonderful appreciation of the beauty of the human
form. And they are especially interesting as treating many
of the themes of Greek mythology in a way independent and
yet not very dissimilar from that of the poets.
Periods and Schools of Vases. — It is not intended here to give,
even in outline, a history of Greek vase-painting. No such
history quite suitable at present exists. The best are, in
English, H. B. Walters, History of Ancient Pottery; Harrison
and MacColl, Greek Vase-paintings; and the translation of E.
Pottier's Douris, with the catalogues of the British Museum
and the Ashmolean Museum. All that will be here given is
a statement of the principal classes of vases, with their countries
and periods.
(1) Minoan and Mycenaean age. — The prehistoric record
of Greece and Asia Minor has of late years been revealed, age
211