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This is a collection of essays by distinguished scholars that will introduce the student or museum-goer to the study of Greek vases. Although the book is roughly chronological in arrangement--beginning with the appearance of human figures on Geometric vases, and ending with their virtual disappearance from Hellenistic pottery--it is not a history of Greek vase painting, or a handbook. It offers instead a series of suggestions on how to read the often complex images presented by Greek vases, and also explains how the vases were made and distributed. The volume is fully illustrated throughout.
List of contents
Frontispiece; Preface; Map; 1. Adopting an approach Martin Robertson and Mary Beard; 2. The geometric style: birth of the picture J. N. Coldstream; 3. Corinth and the orientalising phenomenon Tom Ramussen; 4. The sixth-century potters and painters of Athens and their public John Boardman; 5. Vase-painting in fifth-century Athens Dyfri Williams and Lucilla Burn; 6. Greek vases in Etruria Nigel Spivey; 7. Farce and tragedy in South Italian vase-painting A. D. Trendall; 8. Fine wares in the Hellenistic world J. W. Hayes; 9. Greek vases in the marketplace Alan Johnston; 10. A closer look at the potter J. M. Hemelrijk; Greek vase shapes; Further reading and notes; List of illustrations; Index.
Summary
An ancient Greek vase is a difficult object for the non-expert to come to terms with. This book, first published in 1991, it is a series of 'looks' at Greek vases, offering suggestions on how to read the often complex images they present.
