n the
black-figure _method_, but have the converse appearance, that is to say
they are painted in a thick red pigment on a ground of shining black. It
may therefore have occurred to the artist that he could obtain the same
effect merely by leaving the figures unpainted on the red clay and
surrounding them with the black. The change, must, however, be closely
associated with the career of the artist Andocides, who not only
produced vases in each method, but also several in which the two are
combined (fig. 27). In two or three cases the subject is actually the
same on each side, almost every detail being repeated, except that the
colouring is reversed.

The date at which the change took place was formerly placed well on in
the 5th century, on account of the great advance in drawing which most
of the red-figured vases show, as compared with the black. They were
thus regarded as contemporary with the painter Polygnotus, if not with
Pheidias. But the excavations on the Acropolis of Athens yielded so many
fragments in the advanced red-figured style which must be earlier than
480 B.C., that it has become necessary to find an earlier date for its
appearance. This is now usually placed at about 520 B.C., overlapping
with the preceding period.

The red-figure period is usually subdivided into four, marking the chief
stages of development, and known respectively as the "severe," "strong,"
"fine," and "late fine" periods. Their principal characteristics and
representative painters may be briefly enumerated.

In the _severe_ period there is no marked advance on the black-figured
vases as regards style. The figures are still more or less stiff and
conventional, and some vases even show signs of an analogous decadence.
The real development is partly technical, partly in the introduction of
new subjects. Although the change of style probably had its actual
origin in the _amphora_, as treated by Andocides, the new developments
are best seen in the _kylix_, a form of vase which now sprang into
popularity and called forth the chief efforts of the principal artists.
Its curved surface gave ample scope for skilful effects of drawing and
decorative arrangement, and the earlier painters devoted all their
attention to perfecting it as a work of decorative art. For other
shapes, such as the _hydria_, and _lekythos_, the old method was for a
time preferred.

The most typical artist of the period was Epictetus, and other famous
cup-painters