The Greek Vase

The Greek Vase PDF

Author: John Howard Oakley

Publisher: J Paul Getty Museum Publications

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 9781606061473

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This richly illustrated volume offers a fascinating introduction to ancient Greek vases for the general reader. It presents vases not merely as beautiful vessels to hold water and wine, but also as instruments of storytelling and bearers of meaning. The first two chapters analyze the development of different shapes of pottery and relate those shapes to function, the evolution in vase production techniques and decoration, and the roles of potters, painters, and their workshops. Subsequent chapters focus on vases as the primary source of imagery from ancient Greece, offering unique information about mythology, religion, theater, and daily life. The author discusses how to identify the figures and scenes depicted in vase paintings, what these narratives would have meant to the people who lived with them and used them, and how they therefore reflect the cultural values of their time. Also examined is the impact Greek vases had on the art, architecture, and literature of subsequent generations. Based on the rich collections of the British Museum and the J. Paul Getty Museum, the exquisite details of the works offer the reader the opportunity for an intimate interaction with the graphic beauty and narrative power of ancient vases often not available in a gallery setting.

Early Greek Vase Painting

Early Greek Vase Painting PDF

Author: John Boardman

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 9780500203095

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This volume completes a series of four titles which comprehensively cover the development of Greek vases.

Pots & Plays

Pots & Plays PDF

Author: Oliver Taplin

Publisher: Getty Publications

Published: 2007-10-15

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0892368071

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This interdisciplinary study opens up a fascinating interaction between art and theater. It shows how the mythological vase-paintings of fourth-century B.C. Greeks, especially those settled in southern Italy, are more meaningful for those who had seen the myths enacted in the popular new medium of tragedy. Of some 300 relevant vases, 109 are reproduced and accompanied by a picture-by-picture discussion. This book supplies a rich and unprecedented resource from a neglected treasury of painting.

Greek Vase-Painting and the Origins of Visual Humour

Greek Vase-Painting and the Origins of Visual Humour PDF

Author: Alexandre G. Mitchell

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-08-24

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 1107728894

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This book is a comprehensive study of visual humour in ancient Greece, with special emphasis on works created in Athens and Boeotia. Alexandre G. Mitchell brings an interdisciplinary approach to this topic, combining theories and methods of art history, archaeology and classics with the anthropology of humour, and thereby establishing new ways of looking at art and visual humour in particular. Understanding what visual humour was to the ancients and how it functioned as a tool of social cohesion is only one facet of this study. Mitchell also focuses on the social truths that his study of humour unveils: democracy and freedom of expression; politics and religion; Greek vases and trends in fashion; market-driven production; proper and improper behaviour; popular versus elite culture; carnival in situ; and the place of women, foreigners, workers and labourers within the Greek city. Richly illustrated with more than 140 drawings and photographs, this study amply documents the comic representations that formed an important part of ancient Greek visual language from the sixth to the fourth centuries BC.

The Art of Vase-Painting in Classical Athens

The Art of Vase-Painting in Classical Athens PDF

Author: Martin Robertson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780521338813

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In his new book, Professor Martin Robertson - author of A History of Greek Art (CUP 1975) and A Shorter History of Greek Art (CUP 1981) - draws together the results of a lifetime's study of Greek vase-painting, tracing the history of figure-drawing on Athenian pottery from the invention of the 'red-figure' technique in the later archaic period to the abandonment of figured vase-decoration two hundred years later. The book covers red-figure and also work produced over the same period in the same workshops in black-figure and other techniques, especially that of drawing in outline on a white ground. The book is intended as a companion volume to Sir John Beazley's The Development of Attic Black-figure (originally published in 1951 by California University Press), and as an examination and defence of Beazley's methods and achievements. This book is a major contribution to the history of Greek vase-painting and anyone seriously interested in the subject - whether scholar, student, curator, collector or amateur - will find it essential reading.

How to Read Greek Vases

How to Read Greek Vases PDF

Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1588394042

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This handsomely illustrated volume is aimed at giving a broad audience deeper insight into the extensive collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum is famed for its Greek vases, of which 35 notable examples are detailed in this book. They reveal the variety and vitality of the refined forms and masterfully rendered scenes that characterize these works. And they demonstrate the interrelation of function, shape, technique, and subject matter that is key to understanding the rich language of Greek vases. The introduction provides valuable background information, and the entries delve into the features of each vase, incorporating brilliant color illustrations and many arresting details. Greek vases served specific utilitarian functions, and they also afforded outstanding artists, some of whom signed their work, a medium for depicting both the details of daily existence and aspects of their gods, goddesses, and heroes. We see the garments, implements, athletic competitions, and marriages and funerary rituals of Greeks who lived from the seventh through the fourth century B.C.. We also see their mythological figures and stories. The exceptional group of works assembled in this volume conveys the extent to which the culture of ancient Greece is still apparent today. This book is sure to inspire closer scrutiny of these remarkable works of art, which have survived for over two millennia to offer viewers an enlightening look into the ancient heritage of the Western world. -- from inside Front Cover.

Looking at Greek Vases

Looking at Greek Vases PDF

Author: Tom Rasmussen

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1991-07-26

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 9780521376792

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An ancient Greek vase is a difficult object for the non-expert to come to terms with. Faced with rows of apparently undifferentiated black, red and buff pots, he or she is at a loss as to where to begin. Greek vases are treated as objets d'art in the modern world, but how much were they worth in the ancient? They are often used to demonstrate 'the Greek genius' and aspects of ancient Greek society, but why do many of them carry Eastern motifs, and why do so many turn up in Italy? Why were the Greeks not content with simple patterns on their pottery? What did the pictures on the pots mean to them? Why should a vase depict a scene from a play? These are the sorts of questions that this book, first published in 1991, attempts to answer. As the title implies, it is a series of 'looks' at Greek vases, offering suggestions on how to read the often complex images they present.