Greek Gems and Finger Rings: Early Bronze Age to Late Classical
by: Boardman, John

Hardcover. NY, Thames & Hudson Ltd, reprint, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 480 pages illustrated in color and b&w. first published in 1970, this is the new enlarged edition. The miniaturist art of gem engraving is the least familiar of the major arts of ancient Greece, yet we know it to have been practiced by the greatest artists. This book presents a comprehensive account of the art in Greek lands from the early Bronze Age down to the Hellenistic period. The gems are related to history and to the artistic achievements in other media of their day, and the subject matter of the scenes engraved upon them is examined and found to hold much that will be new to students of Greek myth and iconography. The development of the Bronze Age studios in the Minoan and Mycenaean world is discussed, and the works of the great period of Classical gem engraving are resolved into their styles and schools, with a special chapter devoted to Greek works within the Persian Empire. Clean copy. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.