Lekythos: Laying Out and Lamentationof the Dead

White-ground lekythoi, large numbers of which were produced in Athens in the 2nd half of the 5th century BC, were used only for the cult of the dead. They contained a sacrificial offering – fragrant oils and balms - and were placed in the grave with the deceased. The name and function of these vessels are mentioned in ancient literature: “The Athenians call the vessel in which they offer fragrant oil to the deceased a lekythos” (scholion on Plato Hippias Minor 368e). Favoured themes on the lekythoi are the laying out and lamentation of the dead. Here the deceased lies under a grey cover on the deathbed. Three short-haired women shrouded in dark attire stand mourning the deceased, the one on the right holding a fan. Between them fly three eidola (phantoms, souls). Gloomycolours, lamenting gestures and the short hair of the women are symbols of mourning. The painting is characteristic of this genre: the support is the white surface of aniron-poor clay slip, which provides a clear contrast to the figures and ornaments sketched in matt colours. The use of a white background in Attic ceramics began in the last quarter of the 6th century BC. In the 2nd half of the 5th century BC, this technique was used exclusively for funerary vessels. White-ground painting is believed to reflect the mural and panel paintings of the period, which have been lost and which marked the discovery of skiagraphia (literally: “shadow painting”) in the mid-5th century BC. © Kurt Gschwantler, Alfred Bernhard-Walcher, Manuela Laubenberger, Georg Plattner, Karoline Zhuber-Okrog, Masterpieces in the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities. A Brief Guide to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 2011