Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Lekythos with a Visit to a Grave
(Ancient Greece )
The women of the family were responsible for tending the graves of the dead and are frequently depicted on delicate "lekythoi," or oil-containers, such as this one, carrying out this activity. A mourning woman bends over a tomb, as a youth approaches her unseen. He represents the deceased, whom the Greeks believed lingered near the tomb after death.
Many "lekythoi" intended for funerary use were decorated in the delicate white-ground technique, which used colorful pigments lightly painted on a white background. The pigments flake off easily, often leaving only the preliminary drawing, as on the woman's dress here.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Nicolas Koutoulakis, Galerie Segredakis, Paris; Walters Art Museum, 1948, by purchase.
Geographies
Greece, Athens (Place of Origin)
Measurements
11 7/16 x 3 5/8 in. (29.1 x 9.2 cm) (h. x diam.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, 1948
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
48.2012