The Wykehamist
woman would marry’. Rutherfield Robert’ s archeological notes would also agree that the Washing Painter frequently depicts women preparing for their weddings, often binding hair or washing clothes.
Lewis goes on to suggest that that the presence of erotes and Eros on the vases can be seen as significant to marriage. One or more erotes are often seen waiting on( presumably wealthy) brides, such as here on this lekythos by the Washing Painter,
carrying out relatively mundane tasks such as aiding them in getting ready by offering perfume, jewellery or clothing. Lewis argues that this may imply the artist to be base-born and more sympathetic to the‘ dirty ill-fed girls’ who would have actually been serving the bride. Slaves were ordinarily portrayed as being young and graceful in Ancient Greek art, presumably so as not to spoil the aesthetic of the rest of the vase— the move to a more abstract portrayal featuring gods such as Eros was due to the difficulty encountered in trying to differentiate these characters with the main( freeborn) subjects of the images. That this vase could have been gifted as a wedding present to a bride, also feeds into the theory of the woman featured upon our original vase is preparing for her bridal bath, since fetching water from the well( with a hydria) was a domestic task traditionally performed by women.
Ultimately, the true meaning behind this vase remains as ambiguous as any object crafted well over 2000 years ago is likely to be, and thus can be interpreted in many ways. However, whilst it might seem unimportant whether this woman is a bride or a courtesan, it can be used to inform modern day archaeologists and historians about Athenian perceptions of women in everyday life, rather than the grandiose depictions so often found in drama and epic poetry. We can accurately guess that the height of an ordinary woman’ s life was her wedding, as these preparations frequent so many hydria, but also that prostitution was an acknowledged and protected( although possibly stigmatised) profession. Surviving vases like this one serve as a window into history and tell us not only of the Greeks’ technical skill in making art which have outlasted their society and people, but also of their appreciation for beautiful, everyday objects. We are incredibly lucky to be able to see such vases personally, and as such The Wykehamist would like to strongly encourage anyone who has a spare moment to visit the Treasury’ s upcoming vase exhibition next term.
Ottilie Fergusson( K, 2024-)
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