As we have seen, the Achilles Painter had a long career, spanning more than thirty years (470/60-430/25 B.C.). On his early work his style is slow to develop, and especially the red-figure reveals his dependence on his teacher, the Berlin Painter. The peak in quality and originality of his red-figure work takes place during the early part of his Middle phase (450-445 B.C.) when he produced some of the masterpieces of Greek vase-painting. Later, although he developed several new scenes, the quality is not as uniformly high. It is his white-ground lekythoi, however, which were the standard to which all other painters looked and for which the Achilles Painter is most famous. On many vases in both techniques the static poses of his figures and the complex yet natural rendering of drapery in simple, yet moving scenes on many vases in both techniques reflect the style and mood of the Parthenon sculptures, which is why the Achilles Painter is considered the most classical of all Greek vase-painters.

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