To that end, the Panoply Vase Animation Project has taken up the feat (with the aid of numerous collaborations with other institutions) of composing fascinating animations that solely make use of the Greek black figures – portraying different facets of ancient Greek culture, ranging from mythology to even ‘dance-offs‘. The finest figures are given grace and poise and often illustrated in the moments before actual movement or resting after exertion. However, it is the postures of the figures which also mark out black-figure pottery as the zenith of Greek vase painting. A greater interest in fine details such as muscles and hair, which were added to the figures using a sharp instrument, is characteristic of the style. Not all figures were painted black as certain color conventions were adopted, such as white for female flesh and purple-red for clothes and accessories. As Mark Cartwright wrote (for Ancient Encyclopedia) in regard to the predominance of black figures during the aforementioned period –Īlthough first produced in Corinth, then with fine examples made in Laconia and southern Italy (by Euboean settlers), it would be the potters and painters of Attica who would excel above all others in the black-figure style, and they would go on to dominate the Greek market for the next 150 years. Continuing the artistic legacy of the earlier Minoan pottery and Mycenaean pottery, the vase painting in the late Archaic Age (620 to 480 BC) mainly comprised the so-termed ‘black figure’. On the other cultural spectrum, the development of ancient Greek art was rather mirrored by the pottery designs that were made between the time-fame of 1000 – 400 BC. And while the ‘classic’ well-armored and trained Greek soldier was ultimately eclipsed by the tactical Macedonian phalanx in late 4th century BC, hoplites (and their predecessors) had dominated the Mediterranean battlefields for almost three centuries before that. Simply put, these conscripted men were expected to take part in battles to safeguard their own interests, freedoms and farms, in contrast to viewing military as a contractual well-paying career. But as opposed to their late medieval counterparts, the ancient hoplites were first and foremost citizen-soldiers. The Greek word for military equipment roughly translates to hopla, and thus a hoplite simply pertained to the ancient Greek version of the ‘man at arms’ or ‘armored man’.
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