eBook - ePub
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The Sarpedon Krater
The Life and Afterlife of a Greek Vase
- 242 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Available until 1 Dec |Learn more
About this book
A tale of tomb raiders, legal battles, suspicious death, and a 2,500-year-old vase: "Spivey proves a diligent detective and an engaging storyteller." —
Times Literary Supplement
Perhaps the most spectacular of all Greek vases, the Sarpedon krater depicts the body of Sarpedon, a hero of the Trojan War, being carried away to his homeland for burial. It was decorated some 2,500 years ago by Athenian artist Euphronios, and its subsequent history involves tomb raiding, intrigue, duplicity, litigation, international outrage, and possibly even homicide. How this came about is told by Nigel Spivey in a book that braids together the creation and adventures of this extraordinary object with an exploration of its abiding influence.
Spivey takes us on a dramatic journey, beginning with the krater's looting from an Etruscan tomb in 1971 and its acquisition by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, followed by a high-profile lawsuit over its status and its eventual return to Italy. He explains where, how, and why the vase was produced, retrieving what we know about the life and legend of Sarpedon. Spivey also pursues the figural motif of the slain Sarpedon portrayed on the vase and traces how this motif became a standard way of representing the dead and dying in Western art, especially during the Renaissance. Fascinating and informative, The Sarpedon Krater is a multifaceted introduction to the enduring influence of Greek art on the world.
"The story of the Sarpedon Krater has been brilliantly told by Nigel Spivey, author and presenter of the BBC television series, How Art Made the World. Spivey traces the strange and wondrous journey of the Sarpedon Krater from ancient Athens in the sixth century B.C.to the present." — Art Eyewitness
Perhaps the most spectacular of all Greek vases, the Sarpedon krater depicts the body of Sarpedon, a hero of the Trojan War, being carried away to his homeland for burial. It was decorated some 2,500 years ago by Athenian artist Euphronios, and its subsequent history involves tomb raiding, intrigue, duplicity, litigation, international outrage, and possibly even homicide. How this came about is told by Nigel Spivey in a book that braids together the creation and adventures of this extraordinary object with an exploration of its abiding influence.
Spivey takes us on a dramatic journey, beginning with the krater's looting from an Etruscan tomb in 1971 and its acquisition by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, followed by a high-profile lawsuit over its status and its eventual return to Italy. He explains where, how, and why the vase was produced, retrieving what we know about the life and legend of Sarpedon. Spivey also pursues the figural motif of the slain Sarpedon portrayed on the vase and traces how this motif became a standard way of representing the dead and dying in Western art, especially during the Renaissance. Fascinating and informative, The Sarpedon Krater is a multifaceted introduction to the enduring influence of Greek art on the world.
"The story of the Sarpedon Krater has been brilliantly told by Nigel Spivey, author and presenter of the BBC television series, How Art Made the World. Spivey traces the strange and wondrous journey of the Sarpedon Krater from ancient Athens in the sixth century B.C.to the present." — Art Eyewitness
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access The Sarpedon Krater by Nigel Spivey in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & History of Ancient Art. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Copyright
- Title Page
- Frontispiece
- Content
- 1. Preface
- 2. ‘The Million-Dollar Vase’
- 3. Euphronios and ‘the Pioneers’
- 4. Athens and the Symposium
- 5. Epic as Education
- 6. An Image for the Afterlife
- 7. The Afterlife of an Image (I)
- 8. The Afterlife of an Image (II)
- 9. Coda
- Appendices