Hermonax: An Early Classical Vase-Painter

The dissertation addresses the career of Hermonax, an Athenian vase-painter of the Early Classical period. His name is known from a number of signed works, and the catalogue includes almost two hundred attributions, to his hand. His career spanned the years between c. 475 B.C. and 450 B.C. The scholarly literature pertaining to Hermonax and the history of attributions are surveyed, before proceeding to the documentation and analysis of the writing and graffiti on his vases, his drawing style, the shapes and non-figural decoration of the vessels, and their iconography. The stylistic associations of Hermonax with the Berlin Painter, Makron, the Providence Painter and the Achilles Painter set forth in the work of J. D. Beazley are supported by the vase-profiles and by the shared arrangements of figural and non-figural decoration on the vessel surfaces. The goals of the study of Hermonax are to analyze and document the painter's work and to place him in the context of the Athenian pottery industry in the years between the Persian Wars and the budding of the Parthenon. The study of the works by individual craftsmen in the Kerameikos may aid in the identification of the networks of association between potters and painters in the Kerameikos and, ultimately, may contribute to a better understanding of this important craft-industry that supplied both local Athenian and foreign markets with ceramic wares for the home, sanctuary and grave. The dissertation includes a catalogue of works signed by and attributed to Hermonax with discussions of the decoration and references to published illustrations. A number of works in Hermonax's manner or otherwise related to his vases are catalogued as well. In addition, profile drawings of over fifty vases by Hermonax and related artists are included.