The Berlin Painter

Of all the vase painters of ancient Athens, there is one who continues to captivate all those who witness their works, not only for their splendor and skill, but also for their mystery. The identity of the artist dubbed the Berlin Painter is something we may never know. Although over 200 pieces have been identified as being painted by this individual, none of them hold the name of the artist. This is highly unusual, since by the time of the early 5th century BCE, the period when the Berlin Painter’s vases are dated, both master potters and painters would commonly place their names on their favored works.

The Berlin Painter and His World: Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century B.C. edited by J. Michael Padgett, Curator of Ancient Art at the Princeton University Art Museum, and published by the Museum in 2017 on the occasion of exhibitions of the same name at the Princeton University Art Museum and the Toledo Museum of Art, is the definitive work on this ancient Greek artist, and includes an updated catalogue raisonné, With contributions by several leading scholars, the work seeks to rebuild the ancient city of Athens though the ceramic remains by artists such as the Berlin Painter.  

The highly decorated pottery of ancient Athens allows us to see the wide spread of influences this culture had on both the Mediterranean world and Central Europe. While beloved by those in the Hellenic world, others imported the pottery, as luxury items and elaborate symbols of wealth. The Etruscans from the Italian peninsula regularly furnished their tombs with kraters, wine mixing vessels, and the Celts of modern-day France and Germany would regularly feast using the Athenian pottery. Though lacking the fast-traveling methods available today, the broad distance where Athenian pottery can be found demonstrates that the cultures of the Mediterranean and Europe were closely connected.

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– LauraJean, Special Collections Classics Intern.

A Classical Friday

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the study of Classical Greece in England was done mainly through the eyes of the ancient Romans. What I mean by this is that nearly all scholars in the field used Latin translations of Greek writings and Roman histories on the Greeks to construct their understanding of ancient Greece. It is evident that most works done on the Classical Greeks during the Industrial Era apply Roman ideals to Greek culture and refer to Greek historical figures and characters by their Roman names. This is problematic for a plethora of reasons, the least of which is that though the appearances of the two cultures seem similar, the religious practices and cultural values do differ greatly. Despite this, the use of Roman material continued in the place of Greek writings for many centuries.  

Andrew Lang, a Scottish Historian, was one of the rare individuals who avoided this standard, as unlike his colleagues he focused on Greek translations. Being more interested in the folklore rather than the history, Lang established his own direct translation of the Odyssey (1879) and the Iliad (1883) to better understand the stories at play in this culture. Lang gained an understanding of the prose used in epic poetry, inspired by both the rhythm of Epic poetry and  the play Helen by the Athenian playwriter Euripides, he culminated his expertise into Helen of Troy: Her Life and Translation. First published in London by George Bell and Sons in 1882, the publication shown here is the 1910 3rd edition by the American reprint and fine-press publisher Thomas B. Mosher (we also hold Mosher’s 1897 1st edition). Here Lang shows an expert understanding of both Greek prose and culture, most apparent in the book’s first chapter where Paris and Helen first meet. Greek rules around hospitality dictate that a host should not question who their guest is and why they are traveling until they have been fed and bathed. Menelaus, Helen’s husband, follows these rules perfectly in Lang’s writings as he waits to ask Paris for his identity and reasons for visiting Sparta.

Helen of Troy is a short but enjoyable read. It offers a glimpse into the life of the woman who “launched a thousand ships” and brings life to a character we actually see very little of in the Iliad and Odyssey.

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– LauraJean, Special Collections Classics Intern.

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