Gnathia vases

As Gnathiavasen a style of Greek vase painting of the 4th century BC is known in Classical Archaeology.

( Egnatia today ) were Gnathiavasen after the ancient city gnathia named in the east of Apulia. There, the first copies were this vase painting style found in the middle of the 19th century. The production of vases began around 370/60 BC in Apulia parallel to the red-figure style, which partially began at that time to be polychrome. Characteristic of Gnathiavasen is the application of different colors directly on the varnished vases body. In addition to the various colors could be introduced by incising the internal structures. The images and themes shown range from cupids and images from the world of women to theater scenes to Dionysian scenes, where the painting is often confined to the upper part of the vase body. The lower part is often decorated only ornamental. The main vessels were bell krater, Peliken, oinochoai and skyphoi. The greatest artists are the Konnakis - painter and the Rose Painters.

First, a whole range of colors, white, yellow, orange, red, brown, green, and others, used after 330 BC urges the use of white color, the other colors in the background. Also, the range of topics is narrower, are shown wine, ivy and laurel vines, theater masks, within the tendrils men's and women's heads, pigeons and swans. The lower half of the vessels is now often fluted. Besides oinochoai, skyphoi Peliken and also bottles, lekythoi, bowls and kantharoi be painted. Most important painters of this period are the painters of the bottle in the Louvre and the Dunedin painter. The late phase comprises about 25 years. During this time, a return to figurative painting is apparent, it outweigh Erotendarstellungen. Kantharos and bowls with painted handles are now main image carrier. The fluting is retained, as the strong use of opaque white, which is now complemented by yellow color for a shadow effect.

Unlike the red-figured vases Gnathiavasen were traded from southern Italy and in other parts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea region. In part, the impact on regional ceramic production was significantly ( approximately western slope ceramic). Besides Apulia was also produced in Campania, Paestum and Sicily Gnathiakeramik, only in Lucania, there were few imitations. In Etruria the Pocolum genus, which produced an immigrant from southern Italy vase painters existed.