( fl c. 420–c. 410 BC). Greek vase painters. The output of this group consists of largish White-ground lekythoi. Their shape, ornamentation, painting technique and colouring (red contour lines, blackish grey ornamentation and matt blue or green drapery) show that they are from the same workshop as the lekythoi of the REED PAINTER, hence the label ‘Group R’ (short for ‘Reed Painter’). According to J. D. Beazley (1938), these works may have been produced by more than one painter, but the two most famous and best-preserved lekythoi in the group (Athens, N. Archaeol. Mus., 1816 and 1817) are definitely by the same hand. All the Group R lekythoi exhibit extremely meticulous and subtle outline drawing, particularly apparent in the figures’ eloquent hands: the lively contours and twisting bodies give an impression of plasticity and depth. The faces frequently have melancholy expressions with slightly lowered eyes surrounded by lashes and are often seen in three-quarter view; this melancholy is also reflected in the figural poses. Some are bent or slumped forwards, leaning languidly on a stick or a lance; heads are generally bowed, and the hands often hang limply. Almost all the pictures show grave scenes with three figures, with the deceased person sitting at the centre in front of a broad funerary stele, with a male or female figure standing on either side. Female mourners hold the traditional offerings for the dead (baskets of fillets and oil flasks) and occasionally weapons. Their hair is nearly always short as a sign of mourning, not tied up in a chignon as often in works by the Reed Painter. They make none of the usual gestures of mourning, such as tearing the hair or beating the breast: the grief is internalized.

Part of the Vase painters family

• Group R
  • Greece, ancient, §V, 7: White-ground pottery
  • Vase painters, §II: Reed Painter