DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0259
CHAPTER XV
vases : artistic tradition
Thus far we have dealt with the spatial aspects of vase-
paintings; we have next to speak of their schemes and their
relations to myth or tale, reserving to the next chapter their
relations to Greek literature. In their attempts, then, to
embody a myth in a drawing, the vase-painters were subject
to certain tendencies which belonged in a special manner to
their craft, and which may fairly be regarded as principles of
the grammar of vase-painting.
The Greek vase-painter in all periods works in schemes.
He does not freely invent a new embodiment for a tale or a
myth. He is dependent on the manner in which that tale had
been represented in earlier art. He must satisfy the eye as
well as the mind. But, on the other hand, though he accepts
and repeats a scheme embodying artistic tradition, he does not,
unless he be a mere workman and no artist, accept the scheme
in a slavish way. He alters poses and details, omits figures, or
introduces fresh ones; sometimes he merely improves the
lines of the composition. Here, as in every field of Greek
activity, we find infinite variety of detail within limits cheer-
fully accepted by the poet or artist. An exceptional poet or
artist pushes back the limits; a conventional spirit keeps far
within the bounds.
The Use of Fixed Schemes. — In tracing back any representa-
tions of myths of the gods or of heroic legends, we often find the
kernel of them in some simple scheme, which is usually of
great antiquity, and sometimes indeed is borrowed from the
239
vases : artistic tradition
Thus far we have dealt with the spatial aspects of vase-
paintings; we have next to speak of their schemes and their
relations to myth or tale, reserving to the next chapter their
relations to Greek literature. In their attempts, then, to
embody a myth in a drawing, the vase-painters were subject
to certain tendencies which belonged in a special manner to
their craft, and which may fairly be regarded as principles of
the grammar of vase-painting.
The Greek vase-painter in all periods works in schemes.
He does not freely invent a new embodiment for a tale or a
myth. He is dependent on the manner in which that tale had
been represented in earlier art. He must satisfy the eye as
well as the mind. But, on the other hand, though he accepts
and repeats a scheme embodying artistic tradition, he does not,
unless he be a mere workman and no artist, accept the scheme
in a slavish way. He alters poses and details, omits figures, or
introduces fresh ones; sometimes he merely improves the
lines of the composition. Here, as in every field of Greek
activity, we find infinite variety of detail within limits cheer-
fully accepted by the poet or artist. An exceptional poet or
artist pushes back the limits; a conventional spirit keeps far
within the bounds.
The Use of Fixed Schemes. — In tracing back any representa-
tions of myths of the gods or of heroic legends, we often find the
kernel of them in some simple scheme, which is usually of
great antiquity, and sometimes indeed is borrowed from the
239