Red-figured cup (kylix)

Etruscan, 350-300 BC
Found either at Chiusi (Tuscany) or Civita Castellana (Lazio), Italy

Young women beautifying themselves

The interior of this red-figured cup (kylix) shows a scene of three young women beautifying themselves. The central one gazes at her reflection in a mirror, while her companion leans casually on her shoulder. The woman on the left lifts the lid of a casket (cista) to place a perfume bottle inside. In the background hang an oil-flask and strigil (used for cleansing by scraping off oil applied to the body). Around the scene is a border of maeander or key and chequer pattern. The cup would have been used for wine at banquets.

O. Brendel, Etruscan art, Pelican History of Art (Yale University Press, 1995)

E. Macnamara, The Etruscans-1 (London, The British Museum Press, 1990)