Chalcidian Neck Amphora

A nude youth holding a crop rides his horse on the front of this Chalcidian black-figure neck-amphora. The back of the vase depicts a man and a woman who appear to be conversing. Chalcidian pottery was made by a workshop of immigrant Greek vase-painters who had settled in southern Italy, perhaps at Reggio. Scholars call the style Chalcidian because some vases bear inscriptions written in the alphabet of the city of Chalkis in Greece. 

A miscalculation on this vase sheds light on the painter's process. On the front, the artist first drew a set of lines to mark out the central panel for decoration. After painting the horse, it became apparent that this panel was too small and the horse's tail hung out over the edge. In seeking to accommodate it, the Phineus Painter created a slanting area behind the horse rather than following the vertical guidelines.