ISBN: PB: 9781606069059

Getty Publications

April 2024

208 pp.

25,4x22,9 cm

113 colour illus.

PB:
35.00 GBP
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Picture Worlds

Storytelling on Greek, Moche, and Maya Pottery

This abundantly illustrated volume is the first to explore the painted pottery of the ancient Greek, Moche, and Maya cultures side by side.

Satyrs and sphinxes, violent legumes, and a dancing maize deity figure in the stories painted on the pottery produced by the ancient Greek, Moche, and Maya cultures, respectively. "Picture Worlds" is the first book to examine the elaborately decorated terracotta vessels of these three distinct civilizations. Although the cultures were separated by space and time, they all employed pottery as a way to tell stories, explain the world, and illustrate core myths and beliefs. Each of these painted pots is a picture world. But why did these communities reach for pottery as a primary method of visual communication? How were the vessels produced and used? In this book, experts offer introductions to the civilizations, exploring these foundational questions and examining the painted imagery. Readers will be rewarded with a better understanding of each of these ancient societies, fascinating insights into their cultural commonalities and differences, and fresh perspectives on image making and storytelling, practices that remain vibrant to this day.

About the author

David Saunders is associate curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Megan E. O'Neil is assistant professor of art history at Emory University.