EUPHRONIOS One of these younger
and more adventurous painters was Eu-
phronios, whose krater depicting the
struggle between Herakles and Antaios
(FIG. 5-23) reveals the exciting possibili-
ties of the new red-figure technique. Antaios was a Libyan giant, a
son of Earth, and he derived his power from contact with the
ground. To defeat him, Herakles had to lift him into the air and
strangle him while no part of the giant’s body touched the earth. In
the scene on the krater, the two wrestle on the ground, and Antaios
still possesses enormous strength. Nonetheless, Herakles has the
upper hand. The giant’s face is a mask of pain. His eyes roll and his
teeth are bared. His right arm is paralyzed, with the fingers limp.
Euphronios used diluted glaze to show Antaios’s unkempt
golden brown hair—intentionally contrasted with the neat coiffure
and carefully trimmed beard of the emotionless Greek hero. The
artist also used thinned glaze to delineate the muscles of both fig-
ures. But rendering human anatomy convincingly was not his only
interest. Euphronios also wished to show that his figures occupy
space. He deliberately rejected the conventional composite posture
for the human figure, which communicates so well the specific parts
of the human body, and attempted instead to reproduce how a par-
ticular human body is seen.He presented, for example, not only An-
taios’s torso but also his right thigh from the front. The lower leg dis-
appears behind the giant, and one glimpses only part of the right
foot. The viewer must mentally make the connection between the
upper leg and the foot. The red-figure painter did not create a two-
dimensional panel filled with figures in stereotypical postures, as his
Archaic and pre-Greek predecessors always did. His panel is a win-
dow onto a mythological world with protagonists moving in three-
dimensional space—a revolutionary new conception of what a pic-
ture was supposed to be.EUTHYMIDESA preoccupation with the art of drawing per se
may be seen in a remarkable amphora (FIG. 5-24) painted by
Euthymides,a rival of Euphronios. The subject is appropriate for a
wine storage jar—three tipsy revelers. But the theme was little more
than an excuse for the artist to experiment with the representation of
unusual positions of the human form. It is no coincidence that the
bodies do not overlap, for each is an independent figure study. Eu-
thymides cast aside the conventional frontal and profile composite
views. Instead, he painted torsos that are not two-dimensional sur-
face patterns but are foreshortened,that is, drawn in a three-quarter
view. Most noteworthy is the central figure, who is shown from the
rear with a twisting spinal column and buttocks in three-quarter
view. Earlier artists had no interest in attempting such postures be-
cause they not only are incomplete but also do not show the “main”5-23Euphronios,Herakles wrestling
Antaios (detail of an Athenian red-figure
calyx krater), from Cerveteri, Italy, ca. 510 bce.
Whole vessel 1 7 high; detail 7–^34 high.
Louvre, Paris.
Euphronios rejected the age-old composite
view for his depiction of Herakles and the
giant Antaios and instead attempted to
reproduce how the human body is seen
from a particular viewpoint.5-24Euthymides,Three revelers (Athenian red-figure amphora),
from Vulci, Italy, ca. 510 bce. 2 high. Staatliche Antikensammlungen,
Munich.
Euthymides chose this theme as an excuse to represent bodies in
unusual positions, including a foreshortened three-quarter view from
the rear. He claimed to have surpassed Euphronios as a draftsman.side of the human body. But for Euthymides the challenge of draw-
ing the figure from such an unusual viewpoint was a reward in itself.
With understandable pride he proclaimed his achievement by
adding to the formulaic signature “Euthymides painted me” the
phrase “as never Euphronios [could do!]”116 Chapter 5 ANCIENT GREECE1 in.1 in.5-24AONESIMOS,
Girl preparing
to bathe,
ca. 490 BCE.