Page - 80 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

80 PhilippKobusch PerformanceandArchitecture Theprocedureof theperirrhansis canbe reconstructedwith thehelpofa fewvasedepictions.65 Usually they showahumanfigure standingbetweenabasinandasingle columnwithentabla- ture.66Althoughitwillhardlybepossible to identify thearchitecturewithcertainty,67 thedepic- tions at least prove the connection between perirrhansis and an architectural entrance. As a rule, the figureeitherholdsabranch in its left handordips its righthand into thebasin.While the figure usually standsmotionless in front of the basin, a cup inKrakow (Fig. 10)68 shows a male figure in awideprotruding step ashedipshis right hand into thebasin. This shows that perirrhansis couldalsobe carriedout inmotion, as inpassing through the entrance. Especially the position at a ramp, as it is documented at the temples in Epidauros, shows that itwillnothavebeenan insignificant, casuallyexecuted ritual. The rampnotonlyprovided an architectural setting for the approach to the temple,69 but also isolated and exposed the individual visitorswhoapproached the temple andperformed theperirrhansis, due to its small widthandrisingheight.Accordingly, therituallynecessarycleansinguponentering the temple, whichwasprominentlydemandedby inscriptions,mustalsobeunderstoodasasocial act. The structural settingwith a rampandabasin aligned to it emphasizedandcodified it in a signifi- cantway. Theexecutionofperirrhansiswith the righthand is confirmedby thepredominantposition of the corresponding basins to the right of the entrance to the sanctuary, to the propylon or temple. Usually perirrhanteria are directly dependent on the propylon and lean against its fa- çade, while wells with their ownwater supply tend tomaintain a certain distance as amore Fig. 10:Attic red- figure cupwith thedepictionof aperirrhansis in motion. 65 Durand–Lissarague 1980; ThesCRA5 (2005) 179–182 s.v. Peirrhanterion/Louterion (I. Krauskopf). 66 E.g.: a) Attic red figure cup, Pan Painter, Villa Giulia 50422; b) Attic red figure cup, Boot Painter, Warsaw, Nat.Mus. 142313.Durand–Lissarague 1980, 93 fig.4. 8;Kerschner 1996, pl. 24,1. 3. 67 References in the individual imagesareeither to thecontextofagymnasionorashrine.For thediscussion, see e.g.Kerschner 1996, 104f.; Pimpl 1997, 70f.; ThesCRA5 (2005) 178f. s.v. Perirrhanterion/Louterion (I. Krauskopf). 68 Attic red figure cup, painter of theParisGigantomachy,Krakow,CzartoryskiMuseum1211. 69 Sporn 2015.