Looking at Greek Vases

by Tom B. Rasmussen (Editor), Nigel Spivey (Editor)

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.

Genres: History, Art, Classical Studies, Ancient

302 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 1991

Reviews

[Nick H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a lot of fascinating info, though there was surprisingly little about Red Figure and Black Figure – the main reason I came to the book. The images are also pretty low quality. But I did end up learning a lot of stuff I didn’t expect about Greek pottery, which is always a good thing. It’s mostly tangential to my main interest, but I enjoyed it.

色んなめっちゃ面白い情報だけど僕の好きなアボの時代「ブラックフィギュア」と「レッドフィギュア」についてそんなにたくさんじゃない。色んな他の時代と話題については面白い情報だったけど僕の読んだの理由じゃなかったね

[Mitchel Logue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapter 1

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource material.