The Wykehamist
The Wykehamist’ s Treasury
The Washing Painter’ s Red-Figure Hydria
Hydrias were used up until the late Hellenistic period as a means of transporting water, oil, the votes of judges and even funerary ashes. Scenes depicted by hydrias vary from ordinary domestic scenes to mythological creatures and events. This Hydria, which was made between 430 and 420 BCE, is held in our own Treasury, and depicts a mixture of the two; a woman washes her clothes in a laver, while the god Eros offers her an alabastron. The design brings a certain ambiguity to our interpretation— critics’ opinions remain divided on the truth behind the depiction of this woman and her bundle of cloth.
The first interesting thing about this vase isn’ t made immediately obvious by a picture, even if you were informed of its dimensions( 16.9cm x 18.5cm). Unless you felt the need to look it up like me or are a mysterious expert on Athenian hydrias tucked away in the depths of Winchester College, you won’ t know that most hydrias are normally a little bigger than this one, ranging from 25-
50cm each way. The impractical size of the vase is normally assumed to suggest that it would have been both a gift and a symbol of wealth. It’ s also a part of a larger collection of vases by the Washing Painter, most of which were found in Nola, a Greek colony in Sicily, all of which show women, some naked, some clothed, some working, some dancing or playing music, some waited on by Eros( as shown here), some by other women. While these may sound varied, the link between the hydria is undeniable, as you can see from this
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