( fl c. 420–c. 400 BC). Greek vase painter. Active in Athens, he was a contemporary of the MEIDIAS PAINTER (see above) and is named after the potter Nikias, who signed one of his bell kraters (London, BM, 1898.7-16.6). There are 37 vases or fragments attributed to him, primarily bell kraters but also some hydriai and oinochoai and one rhyton. He frequently depicted athletes, revellers, symposia and sacrifice scenes; the reverse sides of his bell kraters almost always bear the same three draped youths. Among his more unusual themes are Leda and the Egg, armed runners casting lots at a statue of Athena and two scenes with crouching dancers. His hydriai carry typical Meidian subjects: two show the Judgement of Paris, while three others depict brides accompanied by divinities and women. The artist’s name vase shows the end of a torch-race, with Nike flying up to the winning runner with the sash of victory; a wreathed old man leaning on a staff stands behind the altar. This may be the god or hero, perhaps Prometheus, in whose honour the race was run; the inscription on the wreath of the victor identifies him as the tribal hero Antiochos. The scene seems to represent simultaneously both mythical and contemporary torch races. The Nikias Painter’s style is casual rather than precise: the facial features recall works by AISON (see above) and the Meidias Painter, but the musculature is sketchy; the drapery, though fussy and elaborate, bears very little correspondence to either the forms or the movements of the limbs beneath it.

Part of the Vase painters family

• Nikias Painter (fl c. 420-400 BC)
  • Greece, ancient, §IV, 1(iii)(e): Monumental sculptural materials: Marble
  • Greece, ancient, §V, 6(i)(d): Attic Red-figure pottery: Late 5th century B