Red-Figure Loutrophoros

From the Getty Museum record

Made in one of the Greek colonies in Italy, this Apulian red-figure vase depicts on side A how the Greek hero Perseus rescued the beautiful princess Andromeda, who had been offered as a sacrifice to a sea-monster ravaging the kingdom. In the top part of the scene, Andromeda is tied to the rocky shore, about to be devoured, with her parents and courtiers looking on. Just below this image, Perseus battles the monster. A small Eros rides the monster's back, foreshadowing the end of the tale in which Perseus falls in love with Andromeda and marries her. Depictions of Perseus and Andromeda were quite popular on South Italian vases. The back of the vase, side B, shows two youths and four women at a grave monument, which takes the form of an Ionic column topped by a kantharos. This unusually shaped vase has features of both a neck-amphora and a loutrophoros. Loutrophoroi were used to hold water for the ritual bath taken on the wedding night, and they were also placed in burials of unmarried persons. The loutrophoros's role in the rituals surrounding both marriage and death is echoed in the vase's painted decoration.