Phintias and Euthymides
Jenifer Neils, Case Western Reserve University

6. Conclusion

Thus, in the end Euthymides outdistanced his colleague Phintias, but throughout their careers they shared many qualities. As we have seen, their figures are lively, not only physically but also verbally. They, more than their successors the Berlin and Kleophrades Painters, decorated large as well as small vases. They both signed many of their works as painter, and in a few instances as potter,[21] demonstrating that they, like Euphronios, were skilled in both techniques or owned pottery establishments. A cup now in Baltimore (Baltimore, Hopkins AIA B4; Illustration 48) [22] may have served as an advertisement for such an establishment.

Illustration 48

Illustration 49

Illustration 50

Decorated in the tondo only, it shows a youth, money sack in hand (Illustration 49), bending over to inspect a group of pots: a skyphos, a neck-amphora in a stand, and a kylix (Illustration 50). It is tempting to think that these are the wares of Phintias who signed the vase as painter, or his friend Euthymides, and that the scene alludes to their success as ceramicists in late-sixth century Athens.