Bilingual vase painting

The term, derived from linguistics, is essentially a metaphorical one; it describes vases that are painted both in the black-figure and in the red-figure techniques.

It also describes the transitional period when black-figure was being gradually replaced in dominance by red-figure, basically the last quarter of the 6th and the very beginning of the 5th century BC.

Bilingual vase painting was almost entirely restricted to belly amphorae of type B and to eye-cups.

Eye-cups usually feature a black-figure image on the interior, and red-figure motifs on the external surface.

Apart from the Andokides Painter, bilingual works were produced primarily by Psiax (especially belly amphorae), as well as by Epiktetos and Oltos (eye-cups).