examines the complex and intriguing iconography of the vessel.Ĭhapter 1 (Metal Vessels in Macedonian History) sets out the social contexts in which Macedonians used metal sympotic ware, particularly in burial settings. The second part of the book is a traditional shape study of volute krater shape and the details of its manufacture, in both clay and metal versions. The book is divided into three sections: the first two chapters describe the excavation history of the Derveni tombs and the use of metal vessels in Macedonian society. In the opinion of this reviewer, the study will stand as the definitive analysis of the Derveni krater and serve as an important contribution to the study of Classical Dionysiac iconography. A stack of bookmarks will come in handy to mark both the black-and-white and color images and the endnotes while reading the text, as the author points the reader to fine points captured in the figures and the plates.

Barely a page passes without an illustration: 168 black-and-white figures in the text and 32 color plates at the end. xiii) She accomplishes that goal through her meticulous study of a truly expansive array of evidence: coins, bronze handle fragments, scientific analysis, clay impressions of metalwork, South Italian metal vessels, iconography and myth. B.-S.’s goal is, “to place the Derveni krater in historical perspective, exploring its importance to the study of ancient Greek art in general and ancient Greek metalwork in particular.” (p. While the book is focused on the interpretation of one bronze vessel, readers will also be treated to chapters concerning the manufacture of bronze vessels in Greece, Macedonian elite burial practices, Dionysos and funerary imagery of the Classical period. The gilded bronze krater decorated with a Dionysiac scene stands almost a meter high and was discovered in an intact late fourth-century tomb at Derveni. This detailed and copiously illustrated study offers a complete technical and stylistic analysis of one of the best-known metal vessels discovered in Greece.

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