page_title: Andokides painter
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Andokides painter / Biography
caption_attribution_description: Heracles and Athena. Side A (red-figure) of an Attic bilingual amphora, 520–510 BC. From Vulci.
context_page_description: The Andokides Painter was an ancient Athenian vase painter, active from approximately 530 to 515 B.C. His work is unsigned and his true name unknown. He was identified as a unique artistic personality through stylistic traits found in common among several paintings. This corpus was then attributed by John D. Beazley to the Andokides Painter, a name derived from the potter Andokides, whose signature appears on several of the vases bearing the painter's work. He is often credited with being the originator of the red-figure vase painting technique. To be sure, he is certainly one of the earliest painters to work in the style. In total, fourteen amphorae and two cups are attributed to his hand. Six of the amphorae are "bilingual", meaning they display both red-figure and black-figure scenes.
context_section_description: Several details regarding the artistic biography of the Andokides Painter have been suggested through connoisseurial studies of his work. As mentioned, he is widely thought to be the creator of the red-figure painting technique. It is likely, however, that he also worked in black-figure painting, and his style suggests a link, possibly in the role of student, to the great black-figure painter Exekias. John Boardman sees connections to Ionian art in the painter's work, suggesting that he may have been an immigrant from East Greece. Dietrich von Bothmer also notes that the earliest instances of the use of a white ground in vase painting occur in the Andokides Painter's scenes, perhaps indicating that he should be credited additionally with inventing the white ground technique.
caption: Herakles and Athena. Side A of an Attic red-figure bilingual amphora painted by Andokides, ca. 520 B.C., from Vulci. Staatliche Antikensammlung, Munich, inv. 2301.
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