Terracotta hydria (water jar)
Woman at a tomb
Although funerary scenes abound in South Italian vase-painting, few depict activities at a grave site. In a rare exception, this vase shows a woman tying a fillet around the pillar-shaped monument while the two others pour a libation and prepare to place a wreath. The type of grave marker and the dedications are comparable to those associated with Athenian lekythoi (oil jars) and stelai, except for the prominent pomegranates here.
Although funerary scenes abound in South Italian vase-painting, few depict activities at a grave site. In a rare exception, this vase shows a woman tying a fillet around the pillar-shaped monument while the two others pour a libation and prepare to place a wreath. The type of grave marker and the dedications are comparable to those associated with Athenian lekythoi (oil jars) and stelai, except for the prominent pomegranates here.
Artwork Details
- Title: Terracotta hydria (water jar)
- Artist: Attributed to the Workshop of the Iliupersis Painter
- Period: Late Classical
- Date: ca. 375–350 BCE
- Culture: Greek, South Italian, Apulian
- Medium: Terracotta; red-figure
- Dimensions: H. 16 1/16 in. (40.8 cm)
- Classification: Vases
- Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1956
- Object Number: 56.171.65
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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