Pan Painter

Pelike showing Heracles fighting Busiris, found at Thespiai. Circa 470 BC. Athens, National Archaeological Museum.

The Pan Painter was an ancient Greek vase-painter of the Attic red-figure style, probably active c. 480 to 450 BC. John Beazley attributed over 150 vases to his hand in 1912:

Archaic Mannerism Beazley identified the Pan Painter as a pupil of Myson, teacher of the Mannerists (beginning around the 470s BC), a term applied (often pejoratively) to a group who used "mannered" depiction of figures for decorative effect. Mannerists also magnified the gestures, made most forms skinnier and at the same time shrunk the heads of the figures. More attention was given to the pattern that clothing offered than the naturalization of the human form. Most often, either black buds or black ivy create frames around the scenes. Most of the pottery that has been attributed to Mannerists are pelikai, hydriai, and kraters. His style used techniques from archaic painting, but he brought new aspects to the paintings.

Attributed vases

Pan Painter's name-vase His name-vase is a bell krater (in Boston Museum of Fine Arts's collection) depicting Pan pursuing a goatherd on one side and Artemis killing Aktaion on the reverse side.

A column krater depicting Dionysus has a careful illustration of a satyr carrying a full cup. The Pan Painter painted the hands near the bottom of the cup giving weight to the satyr's task ).

The oinochoe that depicts Ganymede running from Zeus while holding a rooster, a hoop and a stick contains the common theme of one character running away from another ).

The Attic lekythos depicting Nike is an excellent example of the Pan Painter's attention to detail. The Pan Painter gives care to lines creating the clothing and the indent from one feather to the next on the edge of Nike's wings (in New Jersey ).

A pelike depicts a youth carrying furniture, likely getting ready for a symposium or during a one. On the other side is an older man holding rods in his hand, possibly ready to discipline the boy if he dropped the furniture. )

The Alkimachos Painter may have been inspired by the Pan Painter because of the resemblances seen in the Greek and Amazon Nolan amphora. )