Niobid Painter

He is named after a calyx krater which shows the god Apollo and his sister Artemis killing the children of Niobe, who were collectively called the Niobids.

Alternatively the scene depicts the episode of Heracles' descent into Hades to rescue Theseus and Pirithous, who were guilty of an attempted abduction of Persephone.

Another possibility is that Heracles is a statue and that the men surrounding him are Athenian soldiers who wish to place themselves under the protection of the divine hero before the Battle of Marathon.

[3] A single arrow in the lower right corner of side B probably protrudes from a dead Niobid hidden behind the landscape.

However, this feature did not become popular in vase painting and the rest of the Niobid Painter's work used a single groundline.