The Kleophrades Painter
Michael Padgett, Princeton University

4. Phases of the Kleophrades Painter's Career

Beazley divided the painter's red-figure works into four main categories: very early, early, later, and late. In addition, three vases are described as "earlyish" and one as "latish." No middle period is defined, but there are twice as many "later" works as there are in any other category, and one can easily see the differences between the "early" calyx-krater Harvard 1960.236, the "later" neck-amphora Harrow 55, and the "late" pelike Berlin F 2170. In general, the amphorae of type A with framed pictures, the pointed amphorae, the psykters and volute-kraters, the hydria of black-figure shape, a third to half of the calyx-kraters, at least two of the kylikes, some of the stamnoi, and perhaps two of the kalpides with framed pictures on the shoulder may be confidently assigned to the first half of his career. Those from the second half include the neck-amphorae and pelikai, the loutrophoroi and the amphorae of Panathenaic shape, a skyphos, the kalpides with unframed pictures and most of those with framed pictures, and a portion of the cups, stamnoi, and calyx-kraters. A terminus ante quem of sorts is provided for the fragments from the Kerameikos, some of which are inscribed with the name of Megakles, the son of Hippokrates, who faced ostracism in 487/6 B.C. Two of these are from a calyx-krater with black palmettes on the rim,[20] identical to those on the "early" krater Tarquinia RC 4196 and on some of the "very early" amphorae of type A. However, the Kerameikos fragments also include part of a pelike, a shape otherwise assigned to the painter's "later" or "late" period, and a calyx-krater described by Beazley as "later."[21] It seems, therefore, that the Kerameikos fragments, which should date around 490 B.C., may be a point of departure in defining a middle period for the Kleophrades Painter, characterized by the presence of both earlier and later elements.