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Beldam Painter

( fl second quarter of the 5th century BC). Greek vase painter. He was the last painter of large Attic Black-figure lekythoi and the first artist to adorn this shape with burial scenes (e.g. Athens, N. Archaeol. Mus., 1982), foreshadowing the tomb-lekythoi of Classical times. He was also the first to paint false-bottomed lekythoi, of which his name vase (Athens, N. Archaeol. Mus., 1129) is the oldest preserved example (c. 475 BC). He favoured unusual subjects and dramatic effects, as in his depictions of Satyrs Tormenting a Woman (the ‘Belle Dame’ of his name vase) and Pirates Drowning Bound Men (both Athens, N. Archaeol. Mus., 1129 and 487). He also painted smaller lekythoi of inferior quality (chimney-mouthed lekythoi) which are typical mass-produced vases with little variation in form and decoration. The figures on these are small and sketchy; paired lines were often incised into the clay beneath the picture while it was still wet.

Part of the Vase painters family

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  Reproduced by kind permission of Macmillan Publishers Limited, publishers of The Grove Dictionary of Art.
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