Kleitias Explained

Kleitias (Greek: Κλειτίας, sometimes rendered as Klitias^[1]) was an ancient Athenian vase painter of the black-figure style who flourished BCE. Kleitias' most celebrated work today is the François Vase, which bears over two hundred figures in its six friezes. Painted inscriptions on four pots and one ceramic stand name Kleitias as their painter and Ergotimos as their potter,^[2] showing the craftsmen's close collaboration.^[3] A variety of other fragments have been attributed to him on a stylistic basis.^[4]

Signed works

• Berlin, Antikensammlung V. I. 4604: Gordion cup from Gordion
• Florence, Museo Archeologico 4209 ("François Vase", also known as "Klitias krater"): volute krater
• London, British Museum 1948.8-15.1 u. 2; 88.6-1.215, 424, 427 + Cambridge N 206: fragments of a cup from Naukratis
• London, British Museum 88.6-1.237, 324, 426; 1948.8-15.3 u. 4: fragments of a cup from Naukratis
• New York, Metropolitan Museum 31.11.4: stand from Vari

See also

• Painter of Acropolis 606
• Black-figure vase painting

Bibliography

• John Beazley: Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters, Oxford 1956, p. 76–78.
• Bettina Kreuzer: Klitias, in: Künstlerlexikon der Antike Vol 1, 2001, p. 419–420.

External links

• Klitias in the Beazley-Archive

Notes and References

1. The form Kleitias was firmly established by G. M. A. Richter, "A Stand by Kleitias and an Athenian Jug", in: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 26.12, Part 1 (December 1931:289-294) esp. p. 290. In scholarly literature, it is often written Klitias (like on the François Vase) because the Ancient Greek diphthong ei is frequently rendered as i in post-antique transliterations of Ancient Greek words and names.
2. See J. Beazley, Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters (Oxford 1956) 76-78.
3. There is only one pot with an inscription naming Ergotimos as its potter which has not been attributed to Kleitias as a painter. See J. D. Beazley, Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters (Oxford 1956) 79-80.
4. See the essential list in J. D. Beazley, Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters (Oxford 1956) 77-79. Examples found or attributed later include particularly D. von Bothmer, "A New Kleitias Fragment from Egypt", in: Antike Kunst 24, 1981, 66-67.