Associated with the Darius Painter, attributed to the Egnazia Group (A. D. Trendall)

The side of this large, ornately painted lekythos affords a suitable space for a depiction of the goddess Aphrodite in the company of Eros, and a male and female attendant. Surrounded by this retinue, Aphrodite is seated upon a laver while turning around to face a young man. Her face is in three-quarter view, and her hair is tied up in a large knot above the forehead, while long tresses hang down across her shoulders. The chiton she wears slips off her right shoulder, sensuously revealing her breast. The many folds of the chiton and the himation, which lies across her lap and drapes her legs, add a certain richness to these garments as they reveal the full form of her body beneath. The goddess wears sandals and is adorned with earrings, a necklace, and bracelets. She holds a white dove in her extended left hand, above which Eros hovers while crowning her with a floral wreath, likely of myrtle, which is particularly associated with Eros and this goddess. Eros wears sandals and holds a fillet in his left hand. He is adorned with anklets and jewelry similar to Aphrodite’s.

Near the laver, an intricately decorated kalathos (basket) is draped with the swag of an ornate ribbon or fillet. The kalathos has white-painted round shapes along its rim that likely represent offerings. To the left of the kalathos a semi-nude youth, draped in a himation and wearing a fillet and high boots, bends forward while leaning on a staff. He holds up a mirror in his right hand, which enables Aphrodite to look into it as she is crowned by Eros. An ornate ribbon or fillet hangs above the head of the youth. Nearby a bush of two branches laden with flowers, likely roses since they are also associated with Aphrodite, springs up from the ground line. To the right of the laver, a large flower likewise springs up from the ground. At the right side of the scene, a woman wearing a chiton and himation holds a fan and a large bowl or phiale while leaning on a pillar. She is appropriately adorned with jewelry, and wears sandals and a sakkos covering her head. A single branch laden with flowers stands at the right.

The well-preserved, richly painted surface is enlivened with added white for the laver, pedestal, and the youth’s staff, as well as for details on the mirror, wings of Eros, fillets, floral decoration, and jewelry. Narrow tongues in added white decorate the neck of the vessel; five rosettes are painted on the shoulder and palmettes, volutes, and rosettes decorate the back of the lekythos below the handle. A meander design forms a ground line for the decorative and figural zone. The lekythos is intact except for some restoration to the rim and a repair on the neck. This vase was attributed and published by A. D. Trendall in The Red-Figure Vases of Apulia, Second Supplement, Part 1, p. 156, no. 174a (Oxford 1991).

All e-Tiquities have been searched in the Art Loss Register database.