( fl c. 490–c. 470 BC). Greek vase painter. Active in Athens, he was one of the finest Red-figure cup painters of the Late Archaic period. He is named from the potter signature of Brygos, and the potter and painter may in fact have been the same person. His teacher was ONESIMOS, whose influence is apparent in the Brygos Painter’s depiction of individualized male figures with hairy chests or receding hairlines, in his portrayal of twisting poses with foreshortened limbs, as well as in the general qualities of liveliness and energy that characterize his work. The Brygos Painter, however, went beyond his teacher in infusing his figures with passion, and in his accomplished rendition of the different stages of human life, from children (e.g. cup, Rome, Vatican, Mus. Gregoriano Etrus., 16582; skyphos, Boston, MA, Mus. F.A., 10.176) to the old and regal (e.g. cup, Paris, Louvre, G 152; skyphos, Vienna, Ksthist. Mus., 3710). His personal hallmarks, such as faces with narrow eyes and expressive mouths and his predilection for dilute glaze washes, were adopted by a large circle of followers.

Part of the Vase painters family

• Brygos Painter
  • Greece, ancient, §V, 6(i)(b): Attic Red-figure pottery: Late Archaic
  • Greece, ancient, §V, 7: White-ground pottery
  • teachers
    • Vase painters, §II: Onesimos
  • works
    • Dress, §II, 2: Greek
    • Genre, §1: Ancient Greece and Rome
    • Greece, ancient, §V, 1(ii)(a): Pottery: Shapes and uses