Chalcidian Amphora Attributed to the Phineus Painter in the Getty Villa, June 2016

Title: Chalcidian Neck Amphora

Artist/Maker: Attributed to Phineus Painter (Greek (Chalcidian), active about 530 - 510 B.C.)

Culture: Greek (Chalcidian)

Place: Rhegion, South Italy, Europe (Place created)

Date: about 520–510 B.C.

Medium: Terracotta

Object Number: 86.AE.48

Dimensions: 32.6 × 20.1 cm (12 13/16 × 7 15/16 in.)

Alternate Titles: Chalkidian Neck Amphora (Alternate Title)
Storage Jar (Display Title)

Object Type: Amphora

A nude youth holding a crop rides his horse on the front of this Chalcidian black-figure neck-amphora. The back of the vase depicts a man and a woman who appear to be conversing. Chalcidian pottery was made by a workshop of immigrant Greek vase-painters who settled in Italy. Scholars call the style Chalcidian because some vases bear inscriptions written in the alphabet of the city of Chalkis in Greece. Through two generations of production in Italy, Chalcidian pottery remained thoroughly Greek in conception. For example, the depiction of a rider on this vase derived from the long-standing Greek use of the horse as a symbol of status and wealth. A painter's miscalculation on this vase sheds light on his creative process. On the front of the vase, the Phineus Painter first drew a set of lines marking out the panel for decoration. Then, he proceeded to paint the horse but found that the panel was too small and the horse's tail hung out over the edge. The last stage of vase decoration was to cover the background areas with black glaze. When the Phineus Painter reached this point, he had to accommodate the tail by creating a slanting area behind the horse rather than following his vertical guidelines.

Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/11700/attributed-to-phineus-painter-chalcidian-neck-amphora-greek-chalcidian-about-520-510-bc