White ground technique

As a white-ground vase painting refers to a special type of Greek vase painting, which emerged in Attica to a separate class of vase painting.

In the white-ground vase painting the ceramic is coated with a bright, whitish coating of clay slip kaolinithaltigem. This was both in geometrical as well as in archaic times, as image background in use. White-ground vases were made, for example in Ionia, Laconia, and in the Cyclades. But in Athens alone, it developed alongside the Black figure and red-figure vase painting to a separate genus. For this reason, the term white-ground vase painting generally refers only to these vases. The bright coating should allow the ceramic probably precious act and may evoke associations with ivory or marble. The entire surface of a vessel was never primed completely white. Not infrequently, the white-ground painting was combined with the red-figure. Most were the shells with white interior and red-figure outside image. The white-ground painting is less well preserved than the black - and red-figure, which is why these vases found mainly as a votive and grave vessels use.

The development of the white-ground vase painting was done in parallel with the development of the black - and red-figured style. There were five different sub- styles:

Major artists of the classical (5th century BC) are adjacent to the Achilles Painter and the Sabouroff painters of the Thanatos Painter, the bird - painter, square - painter, painter of women and the Phiale painter as well as several representative of the group R ( Reed Group ), including the eponymous Reed painter. Towards the end of the century the first attempts of a shadow painting are male body seen in the illustration, which are probably under the influence of the panel painting of the time. It should be mentioned especially the group of Huge lekythoi, the large ornate grave vases. In the second half of the century almost exclusively Grablekythen be created in white-ground style. As was their production around the year 400 BC ended, ended the white-ground vase painting.

It was only in the Hellenistic period often recur white-ground at different locations ceramic genres that were monochrome, painted partly partly polychrome. These include Hadra vases, Canosiner vases and vases of Centuripe genus. Lagynoi are often white ground decorated.