The Chicago Painter
Greek, Attic
Stamnos
c. 450 B.C.
Earthenware, red-figure technique
ht.: 37 cm
Gift of Philip D. Armour and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1889.22

This is a Greek “red figure” vase, so named because the figures have been left the natural color of the clay. What seems to be a black background is actually painted on top of the clay, and the black paint also outlines the figures.

The painter worked with a master potter who shaped the vase. Notice how the serene, graceful figures fit the shape of the vase. The painter is known as the Chicago Painter, because this vase, his most famous work, is at The Art Institute of Chicago, and his name is unknown.