commissions were available in the city, notably in the Dipylon cemetery.
There, around 400BCE, a beautiful and touching grave stele (FIG. 5-57)
in the style of the Temple of Athena Nike parapet reliefs was set up in
memory of a woman named Hegeso. Its subject—a young woman in
her home, attended by her maid (see “The Hegeso Stele,” above)—and
its composition have close parallels in contemporary vase painting.
Painting
In the Classical period, some of the most renowned artists were the
painters of monumental wooden panels displayed in public build-
ings, both secular and religious. Such works are by nature perishable,
and all of the great panels of the masters are unfortunately lost.
Nonetheless, one can get some idea of the polychrome nature of
those panel paintings by studying Greek vases, especially those
painted using the white-ground technique, which takes its name
from the chalky-white clay slip used to provide a background for the
painted figures. Experiments with white-ground painting date back
to the Andokides Painter, but the method became popular only to-
ward the middle of the fifth centuryBCE.
ACHILLES PAINTER One of the masters of white-ground
painting was the so-called Achilles Painter,who decorated the
lekythos(flask containing perfumed oil) in FIG. 5-58.White-ground is
essentially a variation of the red-figure technique. First the painter cov-
ered the pot with a slip of very fine white clay, then applied black glaze
to outline the figures and colored them with diluted brown, purple,
red, and white. Other colors—for example, the yellow chosen for the
garments of both figures on the Achilles Painter’s lekythos—also could
be employed, but these had to be applied after firing because the Greeks
did not know how to make them withstand the heat of the kiln. Despite
the obvious attractions of the technique, the impermanence of the ex-
panded range of colors discouraged white-ground painting on every-
day vessels, such as drinking cups and kraters. In fact, artists explored
the full polychrome possibilities of the white-ground technique almost
exclusively on lekythoi, which were commonly placed in Greek graves
as offerings to the deceased. For vessels designed for short-term use, the
fragile nature of white-ground painting was of little concern.
The Achilles Painter’s lekythos is decorated with a scene appro-
priate for its funerary purpose. A youthful warrior takes leave of hisI
n Geometric times, huge painted vases (FIG. 5-2) marked the graves
of wealthy Athenians. In the Archaic period, kouroi (FIGS. 5-8and
5-10) and, to a lesser extent, korai were placed over Greek burials, as
were grave stelae ornamented with relief depictions of the deceased.
The grave stele (FIG. 5-57) of Hegeso is in this tradition. It was erected
at the end of the fifth or beginning of the fourth centuryBCEto com-
memorate the death of Hegeso, daughter of Proxenos. Both names are
inscribed on the cornice of the pediment that crowns the stele. Antae
at left and right complete the architectural framework.
Hegeso is the well-dressed woman seated on an elegant chair
(with footstool). She examines a piece of jewelry (once rendered in
paint, not now visible) selected from a box a servant girl brings to
her. The maid’s simple unbelted chiton contrasts sharply with the
more elaborate attire of her mistress. The garments of both women
reveal the body forms beneath them. The faces are serene, without
a trace of sadness. Indeed, both mistress and maid are shown in a
characteristic shared moment out of daily life. Only the epitaph re-
veals that Hegeso is the one who has departed.
The simplicity of the scene on the Hegeso stele is deceptive, how-
ever. This is not merely a bittersweet scene of tranquil domestic life be-
fore an untimely death. The setting itself is significant—the secluded
women’s quarters of a Greek house, from which Hegeso rarely would
have emerged. Contemporary grave stelae of men regularly show them
in the public domain, as warriors. And the servant girl is not so much
the faithful companion of the deceased in life as she is Hegeso’s posses-
sion, like the jewelry box. The slave girl may look solicitously at her
mistress, but Hegeso has eyes only for her ornaments. Both slave and
jewelry attest to the wealth of Hegeso’s father, unseen but prominently
cited in the epitaph. (It is noteworthy that the mother’s name is not
mentioned.) Indeed, even the jewelry box carries a deeper significance,
for it probably represents the dowry Proxenos would have provided to
his daughter’s husband when she left her father’s home to enter her
husband’s home. In the patriarchal society of ancient Greece, the dom-
inant position of men is manifest even when only women are depicted.The Hegeso Stele
ART AND SOCIETY5-57Grave stele of Hegeso, from the Dipylon cemetery, Athens,
Greece, ca. 400 bce.Marble, 5 2 high. National Archaeological
Museum, Athens.
On her tombstone, Hegeso examines jewelry from a box her servant
girl holds. Mistress and maid share a serene moment of daily life.
Only the epitaph reveals that Hegeso is the one who died.134 Chapter 5 ANCIENT GREECE
1 ft.5-58AREED
PAINTER, Warrior
seated at his
tomb, ca.
410–400 BCE.