O
Painter
Onesimos
Style & Characteristics
Ambitious large-scale tondo compositions; fine anatomical detail; emotional expressiveness; pioneering use of three-quarter views; subtle rendering of drapery transparency.
Name & Etymology
Real name known from a signed kylix in the Louvre (G 105): "Onesimos egrapsen". The name means "useful" or "profitable" in Greek, suggesting he may have been a freed slave.
Attribution Confidence
High
One signed work plus a large, stylistically coherent corpus. Attributed works widely accepted. Closely associated with the potter Euphronios (later career).
Onesimos was an Athenian red-figure cup-painter active c. 505–470 BC. He worked closely with the potter Euphronios and was one of the finest draughtsmen of the Late Archaic period. His name, meaning "useful" or "profitable", suggests he may have been of servile origin. He is known for large-scale compositions on the interior of kylikes, including the famous Ilioupersis (Sack of Troy) cup in Malibu.
Scholarly Controversies
Beazley initially attributed some of Onesimos's works to the "Panaitios Painter", believing them to be by a different artist. He later merged the two identities, recognising them as the same painter at different career stages. This merger is now generally accepted but not universal.
29 vases by Onesimos
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
490–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–490 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
490–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta rim fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
500–480 BCE
Eight fragments of a terracotta kylix, joining 12.231.2
Kylix
·
ca. 500 BCE
Two fragments of a terracotta kylix, join 12.231.2
Kylix
·
ca. 500 BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
first quarter of the 5th century BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
5th century BCE
Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
490–480 BCE
Terracotta kylix (drinking cup)
Kylix
·
ca. 490 BCE
Images courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC0)