Greek Gold

During the classical period in ancient Greece, the skill of Greek jewellers and the beauty of the designs they created raised their craft to a miniature art. Published to accompany an exhibition, this catalogue describes and illustrates 200 of the finest surviving pieces of Greek jewellery dating from the 5th to 3rd century BC. Drawn from the collections of the Hermitage, St Petersburg, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the British Museum, many of the pieces are being exhibited for the first time. Jewellery from all over the Greek world, from Greece itself, from the rich Greek cities of Asia Minor, the Crimea and South Italy, and from areas such as Cyprus, are brought together in the catalogue. It describes the goldsmiths' techniques in detail, with the aid of specially taken scanning electron microphotographs, and discusses how the jewellery was worn, its iconography and how it relates to other arts, such as drawing and sculpture. Illustrations and numerous details accompany each piece, showing the intricacy and subtlety of these works of Greek craftsmanship.