Part of a loutrophoros

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Provision of image

Inventory number

ΝΑ 1957 Αα 698

Artist

Attic workshop

Category

Vessel

Period

Classical Period

Date

Around 430 BC

Dimensions

Height: 0.183 m
Diameter: 0.085 m

Material

Clay

Location

Gallery of the Acropolis Slopes, Case 5, No 28

Description
Bibliography

Part of a loutrophoros-amphora decorated in the red-figure technique. It was found in 1957 in the Sanctuary of the Nymphe.

At the scene’s centre the newlyweds are depicted staring at each other. It is the first time they look at one another after the gesture of revealing which left the bride’s face uncovered. The groom takes her by the wrist to lead her to his paternal house, their new home. This is the typical gesture signifying the passage of the woman’s guardianship from her father to her husband. The newlyweds are surrounded most likely by their two mothers, each one carrying a torch, lit from her hearth. This fire will illuminate the couple’s transition to their new common life. Each of the mothers is followed by a winged Eros symbolising lust. One of the Erotes is holding a torch.

BAPD, Beazley Archive Pottery Database, www.beazley.ox.ac.uk, αρ. κατ. 9027020
Μπρούσκαρη, Μ., Μουσείον Ακροπόλεως. Περιγραφικός κατάλογος, Αθήνα, 1974, σελ. 116
Sutton, R., The interaction between men and women portrayed on Attic red-figure pottery (διδακτορική διατριβή), The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1981, σελ. 251, αρ. κατ. W.57
Winkler, H., Loutrophorie. Ein Hochzeitskult auf attischen Vasenbildern, 1999, Freiburg, σελ. 175, αρ. κατ. 167
Mösch-Klingele, R., Braut ohne Bräutigam: schwarz- und rotfigurige Lutrophoren als Spiegel gesellschaftlicher Veränderungen in Athen, 2010, Mainz am Rhein, σελ. 84, αρ. κατ. 5
Gondek, R., Dress and Nuptial Imagery in Athenian Vase Painting (διδακτορική διατριβή), University of Virginia, 2013, σελ. 130, 367, εικ. 53a-d, αρ. κατ. CIII.49