Ancient Greek painting in the British Museum

The Greek painting in the British Museum is easy to overlook. You will easily find the sculpture of Classical Greece, but painting? Who has ever hard of that? Well, perhaps not many people, but it is there and it is quite interesting, here are the examples. Seeing these examples one is tempted to thing that it is anything but primitive. However, you won't find big canvasses you might expect when you thing of great painting. Perhaps this is the very reason why not many people realise that it exists. These paintings are hidden in a few small glass cupboards in rooms upstairs, they are painted on clay vases. Greek vases are, of course well known, though few visitors to the Museum pays much attention. Even less realise that not all vases are decorated in black and ochre colours, that there exist also white vases with black paintings (or perhaps I should say drawings, or even sketches?) on them.