Publisher's Synopsis
The vibrant chapter of early Iron Age Greece from 1000 to 700 BC was a time of dramatic transformation as the Greek-speaking peoples in the Aegean region gradually emerged from the prolonged pastoral existence of the Dark Age to the Golden Age of the classical polis. "From Pasture to Polis" showcases the art of this time, known as the Geometric period, and conveys the turbulence and apprehension as well as the inventiveness and dawning self-awareness of a culture launched on an odyssey of discovery.;The Geometric period, named for its abstract yet formulaic approach to design, was a time that most people know only through the writings of Homer. However, over the last 20 years numerous archaeological surprises have revealed more and more about the birth of classical civilisation.;This exhibition catalogue collects 101 of these artifacts from American museums, some published here for the first time, and combines them with descriptions and analyses accessible to the general public as well as of interest to specialists.;A selection of full-colour illustrations of outstanding works opens the catalogue, and the introduction by Susan Langdon summarises the nature of the Geometric world and its rediscovery. Five brief essays, also written by Langdon, synthesise the individual catalogued works and relate them to their larger cultural context. Interconnections of Geometric art and literaturc are explored in an essay by Jeffrey Hurwit, an art historian of this period, with illustrations of related objects.
