The Greek vase-painting is to be at once decorative and narrative. These two fundamental elements of Greek vase-painting, decorativeness and narrativeness, are, however, separate and not easily compatible with each other. Works of vase-painters' great periods-the best black-figure and red-figure of the ripe and late Archaic Period-are therefore not produced until the difficult task, to effect a compromise between these two opposite elements, was achieved. What are then the principles that made this compromise possible, by controlling figures and composition of paintings? In black-figure painting, the head is shown in profile, the trunk in front, legs in profile, one arm and one leg extending forwards and the others backwards. But the form of figures is still rigid and is little varied. Compared with geometric style, the narrativeness is in black-figure painting strengthened and amplified, owing to introduction of running figures and more or less exaggerated motion of arms. It is, we may say, the tectonic principle that dominates here. Black-figure vase-painters are apparently very fond of antithetic (i.e. opposing two persons) composition and also often the so-called three-persons composition. The group of these figures, sometimes with some secondary persons beside themselves constitute the centre of composition. It is again the tectonic principle that rules the composition. It is interesting to note that the technique of black figure also matches with this principle excellently. Exekias marks a limit of black-figure painting. In Exekias, the figures and composition are ruled by the severe tectonic principle, which gives dignity to his art. Sometimes, however, he dares to go beyond this limit and makes some new attempts: in Exekias unlike in other painters' works, the space acquires life and sense of depth and there are more natural and free movements instead of excessive motion of arms, and the composition itself is often asymmetrical. Introduction of a new technique was inevitable, for these new trials by Exekias fully to be developed. The red-figure painter, at least after 500 B.C., was fully aware of the whole possibility of the new technique and established a new style of vase-painting on a new principle. Natural and free movement of figures has now become the main concern of painters. Normally figures move in third dimension (a figure in torsion for example), and the rendering of body suggests certain plasticity. Movement flows through the whole body. The new principle which dominates figures of the new style painting may be called rythmic principle. Compostion of the red-figure painting is normally asymmetrical. The asymmetry, however, does not mean irregularity. There is an order, which is rythm. What makes figures and composition of the red-figure more free and dynamic than those of the black-figure, this we may call rythmic principle. The emotional mood, which usually pervades scenes of the red-figure painting, is probably not alien to this rythmic principle. The principles on which the two main styles of Greek vase-painting were based are both of visual nature. In Classical periods, however, something higher than that, something spiritual, was demanded from the new viewpoint of the art. This demand, we must admit, was beyond the possibility of the vase-painting, perhaps with the only exception of the white-ground vase-painting). It was only natural that the vase-painting had to concede its supreme place in Greek painting to other branches such as the wall-painting.