Courtships I
On the left, a young woman turned to the right sits in profile on a “klismos” (chair). Her feet are on a flat stool. A basket of wool behind the klismos. She looks at a wreath in her raised hands; on her knees a bird (dove?). The woman is dressed in a wide chiton and a shawl wrapped around her hips and legs. She wears earrings, spiral bracelets and a fabric hood on her head, "saccos". A bearded man stands in front of the woman, his left arm is leant against a knotted stick and his right arm is planted on his hip. The man wears a himation with decorated hems and lace-up shoes. An alabastron with a strap and a mirror hang respectively behind the woman and in front of her. Three inscriptions are painted in the field: behind the woman from top to bottom “hο παις καλος” (the young man is awesome); from her head to the right, above the wreath, “καλος“ (beautiful); in front of the man from top to bottom “Ολυνπιχος καλος” (Olympichos is beautiful).
An elegant decorative pattern created by elegant intertwined branches decorates the lekythos shoulder. Between the branches, a flying Eros.
Probably, the scene painted on the vase main body features an ideal-typical juxtaposition of the female and male in a living environment.
The man's shoes refer to life outside home in public. Due to the attributes assigned to the woman and the composition with the shift of the image axis to the right, the woman's area gains predominance. The Eros on the shoulder indicates an emotional connection between the two characters in the main picture or the context of a love courtship. According to some scholars, in the present image context, the wreath represents a nuptial symbol. This lekythos probably had no primary sepulchral function, but was a precious perfume vessel or gift for female users.
CAV / CAVI @ www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/81853C20-11E6-46DF-BFA4-96C67...
Attic white-ground red-figured lekythos
Height 18,0 cm; shoulder diam. 7,1 cm.
Attributed to the Syriskos Painter by Bearzley
490 – 480 BC
From Athens, Kerameikos
Berlin, Antikensammlung, Inv. F2252
Courtships I
On the left, a young woman turned to the right sits in profile on a “klismos” (chair). Her feet are on a flat stool. A basket of wool behind the klismos. She looks at a wreath in her raised hands; on her knees a bird (dove?). The woman is dressed in a wide chiton and a shawl wrapped around her hips and legs. She wears earrings, spiral bracelets and a fabric hood on her head, "saccos". A bearded man stands in front of the woman, his left arm is leant against a knotted stick and his right arm is planted on his hip. The man wears a himation with decorated hems and lace-up shoes. An alabastron with a strap and a mirror hang respectively behind the woman and in front of her. Three inscriptions are painted in the field: behind the woman from top to bottom “hο παις καλος” (the young man is awesome); from her head to the right, above the wreath, “καλος“ (beautiful); in front of the man from top to bottom “Ολυνπιχος καλος” (Olympichos is beautiful).
An elegant decorative pattern created by elegant intertwined branches decorates the lekythos shoulder. Between the branches, a flying Eros.
Probably, the scene painted on the vase main body features an ideal-typical juxtaposition of the female and male in a living environment.
The man's shoes refer to life outside home in public. Due to the attributes assigned to the woman and the composition with the shift of the image axis to the right, the woman's area gains predominance. The Eros on the shoulder indicates an emotional connection between the two characters in the main picture or the context of a love courtship. According to some scholars, in the present image context, the wreath represents a nuptial symbol. This lekythos probably had no primary sepulchral function, but was a precious perfume vessel or gift for female users.
CAV / CAVI @ www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/81853C20-11E6-46DF-BFA4-96C67...
Attic white-ground red-figured lekythos
Height 18,0 cm; shoulder diam. 7,1 cm.
Attributed to the Syriskos Painter by Bearzley
490 – 480 BC
From Athens, Kerameikos
Berlin, Antikensammlung, Inv. F2252