DRAG IMAGE TO ROTATE ARTWORK
Neck amphora (Sicilian red-figure ware)
350 BCE-340 BCE
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
41.9 × 19.7 × 19.1 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1966
© Public Domain
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Sicilian vase-painters favoured the portrayal of women and aspects of women’s lives on their vases. The main scene on this amphora shows two women standing either side of a youth seated on a chair. The reverse scene is of considerable interest, depicting an intimate scene from daily life, two women bathing. Naked women are rarely portrayed outside myth. The louterion, or wash basin, stands on a pedestal base with fluted shaft, and is similar to known marble wash basins found on archaeological sites in the Hellenistic world. The bathing scene may indicate ritual bathing before marriage, in which case the scene on the front may also refer to marriage.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Sicily, Italy
Inscription
none
Accession Number
1342-D5
Department
Antiquities
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Tall, slender, necked amphora, with elongated ovoid body, pedestal foot and two handles from below the rim to the shoulder on either side. Decorated in black-glaze and red-figure. On the neck of Side A and B is a woman's head, in profile to the left, flanked by tendrils. Side A body: a seated youth between two women wearing diadems and clutons. Side B: Two nude women either side of a louterion (wash basin on pedestal). They wear only a ribbon around the thigh and a thin bandoher across the body.