RF Epinetron – Wedding Scene after the Eretria Painter

Red-Figure Epinetron (Onos), after the Eretria Painter, ca. 430–420 BCE

from THETIS Cabinet — one of a kind

The epinetron was one of the most distinctive objects of ancient Greek women’s domestic life. Worn over the thigh while preparing wool for spinning and weaving, its roughened upper surface helped work the fibres. Closely associated with women’s work and the ideal of the accomplished wife, elaborately decorated epinetra also became connected with marriage and the transition from maidenhood to married life.

This exceptional example reproduces a red-figure epinetron attributed to the Eretria Painter. Its miniature decoration unfolds across the curved surface in two richly populated scenes. Alcestis and her companions appear on one side, while the other brings together Aphrodite, Eros, Harmonia, Peitho, Kore, Hebe and Himeros — divinities and personifications associated with love, persuasion, harmony, youth and desire. The remarkably fine lines and details are best revealed under close observation and appropriate lighting. At the closed end, which covered the knee, the vessel terminates in a modelled female bust.

This one-of-a-kind piece was created at THETIS between 2018 and 2020, spanning the period before and during the pandemic. After the body was formed on the potter’s wheel, Angeliki Dervenioti modelled the female bust and created the scale-like reliefs (φολίδες) of the upper surface. Vicky Xyda Ralli, our then master vase painter, transferred the complex compositions and began the painting. The decoration was subsequently extensively revised and completed by Popi Mitsopoulou, an archaeologist and a new vase painter at THETIS since Sept 2020, with the guidance of Eleni Aloupi.

The two sides preserve traces of this process: the lines of the Alcestis scene are at times more hesitant, while the side with Aphrodite is noticeably more confident and decisive. These subtle differences form part of the object's individual history — a record of learning, collaboration and evolving craftsmanship within the THETIS workshop.

Handmade and hand-painted in Athens after the original in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (inv. 1629).