Detail View: The AMICA Library: Neck-amphora (jar) with lid

On the body, obverse and reverse, a man and a woman in a chariot are accompanied by a woman and a kithara player; on the shoulder, a combat of foot soldiers and horsemen engage in combat. Black-figure was a cumbersome, restricted, and quite artificial technique, yet many magnificent vases testify to the variety of effect and the forcefulness of expression that it nonetheless permitted. Probably the greatest single black-figure artist was Exekias, who was both potter and painter. Although the essential ingredients of this work are traditional, its particular character is evident in the robust shape, the extraordinary precision and vitality in the figures and ornament, and the perfect relationship of the decorative elements to the body beneath.