Athens. Inscribed loutrophoros, early 5th cent. B.C.
CVA Gréce. Athènes 1, III Hg, pl. 9.3. Black-figure loutrophoros attributed to the Sappho Painter. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, inv.no. 450. There are several scenes depicting aspects of the burial of a young man. Detailed discussion by W.E.Closterman, CB 83 (2007) 49-64 (ph.; dr.), and E.Stasinopoulou-Kakarouga, in Worshipping Women 344/345 no. 153 (ph.). Closterman reports that at the time of the publication of CVA one could still see a dipinto next to the mouth of one of the mourners: ΙΑΡΟΙ, ‘an expression of grief’ (55/56), but nothing survives today. Both Closterman and Stasinopoulou-Kakarouga mention an inscription in whitish slip around the tumulus depicted on the neck of the vase. The metrical inscription, now faded, once read: ἀνδρὸς ἀποφθιμένοιο ῥάκος κακὸν ἐνθάδε κεῖμαι