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View: Side A

Bathing vessel (loutrophoros) depicting a bridal procession

Greek
Classical Period
450–425 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens

Medium/Technique Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions Height: 75.3 cm (29 5/8 in.)
Diameter of lip: 25.3 cm (9 15/16 in.)
Diameter of body: 18 cm (7 1/16 in.)
Credit Line Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1900
Accession Number03.802
ClassificationsVessels
Painted pottery preserves highly detailed accounts of the ancient Greek wedding, or gamos. Using the red-figure technique, the painter of this vessel skillfully compressed successive events in the wedding ritual into a continuous scene running around the body. The procession begins with the groom leading his future wife away from her parents' home by grasping her wrist-a gesture symbolic of abduction, but also of matrimony. Aphrodite's blessing over these proceedings is implied by two erotes crowning the veiled bride, as well as by a goose, a bird sacred to the goddess, mingling among the female attendants; the jewelry box and toilet articles held by the bride's entourage allude to her preparations. At the threshold of the groom's house, his mother, holding a pair of torches, awaits the couple. The slightly open door provides a glimpse of the bridal bed inside. Behind the doors of the house, the painter depicted a unique scene of the bride's betrothal (the Greek word for which, engye, literally means "giving over") to the groom by her father, whose beard marks his seniority. A handshake between the two men seals the agreement.

This type of long-necked vessel, called a loutro-phoros (literally, "bath carrier"), was used exclusively to fetch sacred water for the prenuptial bath. The two-handled variety may have been used specifically for the groom and decorated with scenes appropriate to his interests. A three-handled loutrophoros, used for the bride, can be seen in the hands of one of the women on the neck of this vessel.

Catalogue Raisonné Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 092-093.
DescriptionSide A: Bridal procession. Young man leads bride to his house, grasping her by the hand. Two Erotes fly on either side of the bride. Behind the bride is a nympheutria, supervisor of the wedding, who adjusts the bride's veil. The mother of the groom appears in the doorway of the home bearing two torches. An Eros flies out of the bridal chamber. Other female figures are present.

Side B: A young man clasps the hand of his father-in-law in agreement of the engagement.

On each side of the vase's neck is a draped woman.
ProvenanceBy 1903: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought in Athens.); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, March 24, 1903