Meleager Painter

The Meleager Painter was an ancient Greek vase painter of the Attic red-figure tradition. He was active in the first third of the 4th century BC. The Meleager Painter followed a tradition started by a group of slightly earlier artists, such as the Mikion Painter. He is probably the most important painter of his generation. He painted a wide variety of vase shapes, including even "kylikes", a rarity among his contemporaries. His conventional name is derived from several vases depicting hunters, including Atalante and her lover Meleagros. Colonette "kraters" and bell "kraters" by him normally bear dionysiac motifs. Like other painters of his time, he liked to paint figures wearing oriental garb. The "tondos" inside his "kylikes" are often framed by wreaths. They mostly depict groups of deities or individual gods. The outsides of "kylikes" and the paintings on the backs of other vases by him are often of inferior quality.