Pistoxenos Painter

Who is Pistoxenos Painter?

The Pistoxenos Painter was an important ancient Greek vase painter of the Classical period. He was active in Athens between circa 480 and 460 BC. His conventional name is derived from his name vase. The vase, a skyphos, now at Schwerin, has a signature indicating that it was made by the potter Pistoxenos. It depicts Iphikles being taught music by Linos, and Heracles accompanied by his tattooed Thracian servant Geropso. The Pistoxenos Painter probably started his apprenticeship with the Antiphon Painter in the workshop of Euphronios. He specialized in kylikes, which he painted in the red-figure style. Some of his best pieces, however, were produced in the White Ground Technique. The most important motifs of his paintings are horses, warriors and thiasos imagery. He was one of the first painters to employ four-colour polychromy, using slip, paints and gilding. This style often resembles monumental painting. In his later works he grew so skillful that he could omit the "relief line". Stylistically, he is close to the Penthesilea Painter. His kalos inscriptions refer to the names Lysis, Glaukon and Megakles.