Black-figure

Refers to a style of Greek vase painting that developed from the Geometric and Orientalizing styles. It appeared in Corinth around 720 BCE, flourished in Attica by 600 BCE, and was found in Sparta, eastern Greece, and elsewhere, until the Red-figure style gradually replaced it in the late sixth century BCE. It is characterized by the use of a refined slip and a two-stage firing process and sintering to create black figures in silhouette on a red ground. Details were incised into the black figures or applied in purple or white pigment.