black-figure pottery (redirected from Black figure style)

black-figure pottery

Dionysus and satyrs, amphora painted in the black-figure style by the Amasis Painter, c. 540 BC; …

(credit: Courtesy of the Antikenmuseum, Basel, Switz.; photograph, Colorphoto Hans Hinz)

Type of Greek pottery that originated in Corinth c. 700 BC. The figures were painted in black pigment on the natural red clay ground. Finishing details were then incised into the black pigment, revealing the red ground. The great Attic painters (mid 6th century BC), most notably Exekias, developed narrative scene decoration and perfected the style. It continued to be popular until the advent of red-figure pottery (c. 530 BC).