Lebes Gamikos (Wedding Vase)

Scenes of brides and their attendants, such as depicted on this vessel, are basically variants of those showing women in their domestic interiors; the nuptial representations are distinguished by objects that are specific to weddings. Here, the bride sits on a diphros, a chair, with her bare feet resting on a footstool. Both hands finger the strings of a harp, a reminder of the wedding songs that accompanied all brides throughout their preparations. The bride's withdrawal into her music making suggests her preoccupation with her new life. One of her attendants approaches from behind carrying a festooned loutrophoros, a vase containing water for the nuptial bath. Two other women approach carrying chests. The winged female figures under each handle may be Nikai, alluding to the triumphant power of beauty, or they may represent deities of the Underworld, who had the power to bring fertility. The ribbons or branches that they carry represent the divine blessings that they bring to the bride.