Lekythos with a Visit to a Grave

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.

Nicolas Koutoulakis, Galerie Segredakis, Paris; Walters Art Museum, 1948, by purchase.