These two, imposing vases—beautifully executed—were used for pouring water in rites of marriage, and in the burial of those who died unwed. They’re known as loutrophoroi, recognizable by their elegant shape with a long, slender neck, and their delicate, almost lyrical, handles.

Both vases feature a woman and her handmaiden standing within a small, elevated shrine, known as a naiskos. On the larger vessel, the handmaiden casually leans against a column, as if she’s lazily passing time on a street corner. Next to her stands a metal loutrophoros, the very same kind of vessel that bears the painted scene.

These two vases are important for their exceptionally rendered details that bring to life South Italian architecture and actual tombs of the mid-fourth century B.C. Notice the pair of confronted lions on each shrine. They refer to sculpture carved in marble. If you look closely, you’ll also see that right below them the podiums have an upper frieze of triglyphs alternating with metopes showing Greeks fighting Amazons. This frieze rests on a base carved with elaborate spiral tendrils.

Having no immediate source of marble, artists in Southern Italy decorated their buildings with reliefs, like these, which they carved from local, Tarentine limestone.