Loutrophoros

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Alkestis says goodbye to her husband Admetus and their children. Apulian loutrophoros of type II, variant I; around 340 BC Chr .; Antikenmuseum Basel

The Loutrophoros , Lutrophoros or Loutrophore ( Greek  ἡ λουτροφόρος hē loutrophóros ) is a special form in Greek fine ceramics . The long neck is characteristic of this vase shape.

The loutrophoros was used in ancient Athens for the transport and storage of water during the wedding ritual, especially for the water with which the bridal bath was prepared. Thus it is similar to the Lekythen or the Lebes Gamikos of cultic importance. This resulted in a further use of the vases as consecration objects. Due to the relationship to weddings, the loutrophore is also widely used in grave cults, namely as a grave object for unmarried people. Derived from this, the Loutrophoros was also used as a grave marker, initially in clay, later in marble, either as a round sculpture or as a relief . The interpretation of the various forms is controversial and part of a lively research debate. In Puglia , the only artisanal tradition developed outside of Attica in the manufacture and use of loutrophores.

Forms and technology

Loutrophores are a special form of the Greek vases. They are characterized by a long, slim neck, have a voluminous vessel body, a wide mouth plate and a stepped foot. Two main forms of loutrophores can be distinguished. On the one hand, these are the amphorae loutrophores, which, like amphorae, have two lateral handles. The second major form of group are the Hydra-Loutrophoren that as amphorae have two side handles, also but how hydriai also a third handle on the rear of the vessel.

Outside of Attic ceramics , loutrophores in the variant of the amphora-loutrophores were only produced in large numbers in Apulia . These were further subdivided, although the form of this subdivision differs among different researchers. There seems to be a consensus on the division into vessels with an egg-shaped body ( type I ) and vessels with a concave-cylindrical body ( type II ); the further division based on the shape of the handle is more controversial. The egg-shaped loutrophores come in variants with volute-like handles ( variant I ) and with straight handles ( variant II ). The cylindrical shape has either a volute handle ( variant I ) or no handle at all ( variant II ). The handle loose form is also called barrel-Amphora international on English barrel-amphora designated. Type I is strongly reminiscent of Attic marble models in round plastic form as well as on reliefs, each of which served as grave decoration. The second type used to be interpreted as an amphora and also called that, later it was called the thymiaterion vase , until the interpretation as a loutrophore finally prevailed.

In particular, the large-format loutrophores had to be assembled from several individual parts with manual skill. The body, foot and handle, often also the neck and lip, were made separately and put together before firing. Frank Hildebrandt has calculated for the large Kiel Loutrophore that a structure from a single lump of clay, regardless of all other technical difficulties, with a height of 93.6 centimeters and a weight of 10.1 kilograms in the fired state would have been possible at best with the acceptance of massive deformations .

Development history and use

Protoattic amphora-loutrophoros by the Analatos painter with ornamental decoration, Louvre (CA 1960)

The ancient sources are partly unclear. The name Loutrophoros applies both to the vessel for fetching the bathing water for the ritual wedding bath and to its carrier. In the Demosthenes speeches, the Loutrophoros is mentioned as a grave ornament, which indicates that the person buried remained unmarried. Only late antique and medieval sources can be said that loutrophores are related to the status of wedding receptacles. Thus they stand for the ritual performance of the wedding and the bridal bath of the deceased who were never married in life. In Iulius Pollux , the term is also expressly applied to the young people who carry the vessels.

The first Hydria loutrophores were made towards the end of the 8th century BC. Made in Athens and decorated in the Protoattic style . A little later, around 690 BC. BC, the first amphora-loutrophores were also made in Athens. It can be assumed that both forms developed independently of one another. The hydria loutrophores were probably a special, precious form of the hydria, while the amphora loutrophores probably developed from the older amphorae forms used for grave decorations. This should also have an impact on the use of the two forms in Athens.

Paul Wolters assumed that both forms were equally important, had the same meaning and were used in the same way. Gerit Kokula believed that hydria-loutrophores are ritual vessels in connection with the bride, while amphora-loutrophores are in connection with the groom. Ingeborg Scheibler shares this point of view in the New Pauly as does Charikleia Papadopoulou-Kenellopoulou, and Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele came to the conclusion in her dissertation that both forms were used in different ways. The Hydria-Loutrophoren found practical use in their view in the wedding ritual of the Athenians, while the Amphora-Loutrophoren were of sepulcral importance. They were either given to the deceased as grave goods, were used as grave decorations or found around the middle of the 7th century BC. BC with black-figure painting, used as a votive offering in the sanctuary of the nymph on the Acropolis of Athens . Amphorae loutrophores are found around 575 BC at the earliest. In the sanctuary. Due to the destruction of the complex by buildings from the late Roman period and the complete lack of written sources, nothing can be said about the cult and the use of the vases in the cult there. Since it is a spring sanctuary, the reference to the variant borrowed from the hydria used to fetch water can be seen. The name loutrophoros and thus the reference to the bridal bath comes up later. In addition, the water for the wedding was traditionally obtained from holy springs in Attica and other Greek regions.

The sanctuary of the nymph was discovered in 1955 and then explored in several excavation campaigns until 1959. Priority was given here from the time up to about 480 BC. Black-figure Hydria-Loutrophoren found, but also Amphora-Loutrophoren are not uncommon. In the course of time, both forms were not used equally frequently, and the number of individual forms varied. After 480 BC Until the end of production about 30 years later, vases of the red-figure style predominated. Papadopoulou-Kenellopoulou published around 500 of the black-figure vases in 1997. Most of the loutrophores were found in the 6th century BC. And peaked in the second half of the century. From around 500 BC The production of such vases declines sharply.

Loutrophores as part of the Attic wedding tradition

The shape of the first Hydria loutrophores was not yet fully developed and they were still very similar to Hydria. Accordingly, the loutrophoros as a vase shape is younger than the ritual of fetching water for the wedding. Written sources on wedding customs that began later , for example by Thucydides , say that in Athens the water for the wedding bath was fetched from the Enneakrunos well , fed from the Kallirrhoë spring . After analyzing the vase pictures on loutrophores, which often show pictures with wedding scenes and also often loutrophores, Mösch-Klingle believes that he can prove that only hydria loutrophores were used in connection with the wedding ritual. She also believes that these vases should be seen as one of the symbols of marriage, of the union of man and woman, which is why there was only one of these vases during the wedding, which the vase pictures would confirm, and therefore a division of the loutrophore shapes into one for men and one for women is not tenable.

The consecration of the loutrophores in the sanctuary of the nymph was then apparently carried out after the wedding and was an elementary component for the legal validity of a marriage, at least in the time before Kleisthenes , who introduced further elements for a legally binding marriage. However, it is also possible that there was no obligation to purchase and consecrate a loutrophore and that this was solely the result of private agreements between the families of the future spouses. If Mösch-Klingle's assumptions are correct, the consecration as well as the creation of a separate vase shape for fetching water for the ritual bridal bath should be seen as part of a solidifying ritualization of the wedding - in a society that does not have any official forms of marriage, be they governmental or religious established, possessed. The custom of consecration in the sanctuary of the nymph lasts about 250 years until around 400 BC. Chr. For the time before 650 BC There are only isolated finds of loutrophores in Attica, outside of Attica, apart from the sub-Italian in- house production, there are hardly any finds of this type of vase over the entire period. Hydria-Loutrophoren, the wedding bath and the consecration in the sanctuary of the nymph were thus closely connected, conditioned one another. It is unclear whether the cult was limited to the city of Athens, whether it included the immediate area or even the dedication of these vases encompassed the entire cultural area of ​​the Attic polis and thus a common cult behavior with a central cult center can be read off.

Mösch-Klingle's thesis is also supported by the fact that among the approximately 500 black-figure hydria loutrophores published by Papadopoulou-Kenellopoulou, of which, due to their state of preservation, not all can be assigned to one of the two forms or even the pictures would be meaningful enough for all of them To be able to judge all 500 vases, at least 31 are located, which do not show scenes purely of women, but also men. Some of these pictures do not allow for an exact interpretation, the other part clearly shows wedding scenes. Men do not appear on red-figure hydria loutrophores. Well, in the 5th century BC BC, the concrete room of the oikos , no longer the ritual of the wedding, is shown. Rather, it depicts the bride, surrounded by other women preparing for the wedding; Men as citizens generally hardly appear in private surroundings in vase painting of this time. Only with the red-figure amphora-loutrophores is the bridegroom in the center of the depiction. An interpretation of these scenes is still pending.

Loutrophores in the sepulchral culture of the Athenians

Amphora-Loutrophore with a double representation of the prosthesis, men on the neck and women on the body; around 510/500 BC BC, found in Trachoraes , Attica; Antikensammlung Berlin

Black-figure loutrophores depicting the prosthesis begin in the second half of the 6th century, from around 530 BC. They achieve a canonical form that is only slightly varied: on the front, the dead man is laid out on a kline with his feet to the left. The dead are surrounded by complaining women , sometimes also by children, but never by men. These are depicted on the other side of the loutrophore during their ceremonial lamentation. In archaic times, men and women did not mourn together. It happened that inscriptions on the vase showed the relationship between the plaintiff and the dead, which, however, should not be understood as a real individual portrayal of the plaintiff and the dead. A frieze of Thracian horsemen is often shown under the main picture , apparently supposed to be a worthy escort to the dead. As far as the locations of the individual vases are known, loutrophores with prosthetic scenes were only found in the attic. Such scenes had clear relationships with real life. There are no Attic vase pictures with mythical prosthesis scenes, so such depictions showed the importance of the sitter in Attic society. These representations on amphora loutrophores reached their peak in the last decades of the 6th century BC. With a renewed peak at the turn of the 5th century BC. After that the number of such pictures decreases again as rapidly as it had increased before. For her work on the grave tablets of Exekias , Heide Mommsen put together 86 black-figure loutrophores with representations of prothesis, but assumed that this compilation is not complete. The deceased depicted on these vases are all male, if one can determine the gender. Since none of the deceased was shown as a warrior, it can be assumed that the vessels were related to the private grave cult.

The prosthesis representations are also produced in smaller numbers in the red-figure style. In addition, in the second half of the 5th century BC BC also depictions of warriors, which develop into the largest group in the funeral area next to the black-figure vases with representations of prostheses. They are mostly called warrior loutrophores , modified from John D. Beazley's term the battle loutrophoros . This thematic change follows on the one hand the general change in the subjects of Attic vase painting, on the other hand it also reflects the political development in Athens, the introduction of a state funeral for fallen citizens. In the second quarter of the 5th century BC Production starts and runs until the end of the century. Representations of hoplites are common . Thus, the subject of the pictures and at the same time the use of the pictures is shifting from the private to the public area. Whereas in the mostly black-figure prosthesis the dead person was still shown as a seasoned citizen at the end of a fulfilled life, the vase painters now show the loss of potential citizens for the polis in the red-figure depictions of warriors in heroic exaggeration. So were warrior-Loutrophoren found in state graves.

When pottery loutrophores were used as grave monuments, their bottom was often punctured, which on the one hand made them unusable for practical use, and on the other hand they could also accept sacrificial donations and lead them into the grave. If loutrophores were given to the deceased as grave goods, they were people of both sexes who had died before the wedding and who had not yet performed the wedding rituals. The additions should serve as a substitute for it. The marble grave monuments of the late Classical period , whether in relief or round plastic form, mostly show amphora loutrophores. In addition, they can often hardly be distinguished from Hydria loutrophores. The reason for the transfer of the shape from the rather inexpensive material ceramic to the much more expensive marble was the increased need for representation of the time. They could reach enormous heights of up to two meters. Her body was polished smooth, but mostly a multi-figure relief is carved out in the central area. Others are not figurative, but rather decorated with ornaments, scales or fluted patterns. These patterns are supposed to remind of the driving work of expensive metal vessels. The handles were often very voluminous and ended in volutes or other floral motifs. Often they were set up together with grave reliefs and lekyths . Thus, on the one hand, they were a symbol of remembrance, but on the other hand they were also a symbol of the social prestige of the deceased's family. Some notable examples have been preserved in the Kerameikos cemetery in Athens, such as the Loutrophoros of Hegetor , the Loutrophoros of Olympichos or, for example, as a relief on a stele naming a Panaitios from the Demos Hamaxanteia .

  • Round three-dimensional marble Loutrophoros for Agathon and Sosykrates with relief on the body of Kerameikos in Athens; early 4th century BC Chr .; Kerameikos Museum

  • Grave relief of Silenis depicting a Hydria-Loutrophoros; Middle of the 4th century BC Chr .; Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin SK 1492 (K40))

  • Grave stele for Panchares from Kerameikos in Athens; around 340 BC Chr.

  • Loutrophoros and remains of loutrophores as a grave essay on Trapezai on the Athens Kerameikos

Loutrophores in Puglia

Great Apulian Loutrophoros; Side A, painted by the underworld painter, shows the robbery of Cephalos by the goddess Eos on two figure registers, on the neck a woman's head in a calyx, side B by the painter from MNB 1148 shows a naiskos on the body, in which a bulbous Loutrophoros stands and around which four figures are arranged, the neckline shows a woman dressed in a chiton and coat above, a woman's head in profile to the right below; the handles were already broken off in antiquity and were replaced by replacement handles that were attached with metal pins; around 330 BC Chr., Antikensammlung Kiel, inventory number B 787

The earliest loutrophores in Apulia were made in the middle of the 4th century BC. Created in the workshop of the Varrese painter and his immediate successors. The first pieces are considered to be a work in Naples , which was decorated by the Varrese painter and the group from Vatican X 6 , as well as the name vase of the painter from Louvre MNB 1148 in Paris . These pieces can be assigned to type I, which, however, was not produced for long. Nevertheless, reference was made to this form for a long time. Sun can be found in the Naïskosszene on a Loutrophoros in Kiel the representation of a Loutrophore of actually no longer produced type I. Pascal LeBlond believed that vases of this type in Taranto were produced. As the representations on various vases show, a lid generally belonged to the loutrophore.

At about the same time, the Loutrophoros of type II was created, initially in variant I with volute handles. Here, too, the first piece is ascribed to the Varrese painter, the second piece in Malibu again to the painter from MNB 1148. Like the marble Attic models, the Apulian ceramic loutrophores often have decorations such as grooved ribbons that are reminiscent of Tourutic work. It is therefore possible that the clay loutrophores in southern Italy were not borrowed from Attic models, which would have been difficult anyway due to the lack of export, but from models from Apulian Toreutic , which in turn borrowed from Attica via the marble models that were conspicuously presented as grave decorations were. In addition to the decorative patterns, the handles are also strongly reminiscent of the Attic marble models as well as toureutic work. The manufacture of the handles in the workshops of the Baltimore painter and the workshop of the Patera painter was particularly artistic .

Initially Taranto was the production center, but later loutrophores were also produced in northern Apulia, in Canosa and Ruvo . Towards the end of the third quarter of the 4th century BC The handleless loutrophores also appeared. They could now reach monumental proportions. The largest known piece to date is a vase in Melbourne . It came from the workshop of the Baltimore painter in Canosa, to which about a third of all handle-less loutrophores are attributed, as well as the workshop of the white jacket painter . It is very likely that this was work that was directly oriented towards the wishes of the local market. At the same time, not only red-figure loutrophores were created, but also those in the style of Canosiner ceramics and with the Gnathia technique . However, these two techniques were only used on more modest size vases.

literature

  • Paul Wolters : Red-figure Lutrophoros. In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department, Volume 16 (1891), pp. 371–405.
  • Hans Nachod : Lutrophoros. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIII, 2, Stuttgart 1927, Sp. 2098-2101.
  • Christiane Dehl : A group of early lutrophoric steles from the Kerameikos. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department. Volume 96, 1981, pp. 163-178.
  • Wolfgang Schiering : The Greek clay pots. Shape, purpose and change of form. (= Gebr. Mann studio series ). 2nd Edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-7861-1325-4 , pp. 36-37, 151.
  • Gerit Kokula : marble lutrophores. (= Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department. Supplement 10). Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1984 (critical review by Bernhard Schmaltz in Gnomon . Volume 58, 1986, p. 342ff.).
  • Pascal LeBlond: Les loutrophores apuliennes à figures rouges. Morphology and iconography. Université Laval 1990. (unprinted but well received master's thesis)
  • Johannes Bergemann : The so-called Lutrophoros. Tomb for unmarried dead? In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department. Volume 111, 1996, pp. 149-190.
  • Ingeborg Scheibler : Lutrophoros. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 7, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01477-0 , column 527 f.
  • Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, ISBN 978-3-8053-4094-6 .
  • Konrad Hitzl (editor): KERAMEIA. A masterpiece of Apulian pottery art. (= Antikensammlung Kiel. Volume 4). Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel 2011, ISBN 978-3-928794-58-2 . In particular:
    • Frank Hildebrand: The Loutrophoros - Form and Development. Pp. 80-94.
    • Frank Hildebrand: ΕΠΟΙΗΣΕΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΓΡΑΦΣΕΝ - He created and painted it. For the production of the monumental Loutrophoros in Kiel. Pp. 96-99.

Web links

Commons : Loutrophoroi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Frank Hildebrand: The Loutrophoros - Form and Development. In: Konrad Hitzl (editor): KERAMEIA. A masterpiece of Apulian pottery art . Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel 2011, p. 96.
  2. ↑ Frank Hildebrand: ΕΠΟΙΗΣΕΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΓΡΑΦΣΕΝ - He created and painted it. For the production of the monumental Loutrophoros in Kiel. In: Konrad Hitzl (editor): KERAMEIA. A masterpiece of Apulian pottery art. Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel 2011, pp. 80–93.
  3. ^ Iulius Pollux, 8.66
  4. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, p. 33.
  5. ^ Paul Wolters: Red-figure Lutrophoros. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department. Volume 16, 1891, pp. 391-392.
  6. ↑ Gerit Kokula: Marble Lutrophores. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1984, p. 143; Ingeborg Scheibler: Lutrophoros. In: The New Pauly. Volume 7, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, Sp. 527-527.
  7. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, p. 1.
  8. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, p. 47.
  9. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, p. 33.
  10. ↑ Thucydides 2,15,5
  11. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, p. 33.
  12. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, p. 37.
  13. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, pp. 37–38.
  14. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, p. 38.
  15. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, pp. 70–73.
  16. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, pp. 49–59.
  17. ^ Rosmarie Mösch-Klingele: Bride without a groom. Black- and red-figure lutrophores as a mirror of social changes in Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, pp. 56–63.
  18. ↑ Frank Hildebrand: The Loutrophoros - Form and Development. In: Konrad Hitzl (editor): KERAMEIA. A masterpiece of Apulian pottery art . Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel 2011, pp. 96–97.
  19. ↑ Ursula Knigge : The Kerameikos of Athens. Guided tour of excavations and history. Krene-Verlag, Athens 1988, p. 154 with ill. 151b
  20. ^ Christoph W. Clairmont: Classical Attic Tombstones. Volume 2: Catalog (2,000-2,999). Akanthus - Verlag für Archäologie, Kilchberg 1993, pp. 652-653, No. 2710.
  21. ↑ Museo Archeologico Nazionale , inventory number H 3246
  22. ↑ Musée du Louvre , inventory number MNB 1148
  23. ↑ Kiel Collection of Antiquities , inventory number B 787
  24. ^ London art trade
  25. ^ J. Paul Getty Museum , inventory number 82.AE.16
  26. ^ Graham Geddes Collection
  27. ↑ Frank Hildebrand: The Loutrophoros - Form and Development. In: Konrad Hitzl (editor): KERAMEIA. A masterpiece of Apulian pottery art . Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel 2011, p. 98.