Von Göttern und Menschen

The Greek vases are indispensable information carriers for the knowledge of antiquity and the assessment of Greek myths and life worlds. The clay and variously decorated vessels fulfilled various functions in daily life and cult. Their decorations and images also refer to this. Thus, antique vases have always been indispensable components of collections and museums.
The Berlin antique collection is one of the oldest north of the Alps. It can look back on a history of more than 300 years. In 1830, the first museum building was opened in Berlin – the Altes Museum. In the following years, the collection of vases grew through numerous discoveries and acquisitions. Particularly well-known myths and legends – often accompanied by ancient inscriptions – were the focus of interest. Today, the Berlin vase collection ranks alongside those of the British Museum, the Louvre, the Hermitage, and the Metropolitan Museum as one of the largest and most diverse collections of its kind.
This publication fills a crucial gap in the series of previously published books on the Berlin Collection of Classical Antiquities: for the first time, the focus is exclusively on images of Greek vases – images of familiar myths and reflections of daily life. This responds to a widely expressed interest in high-quality visual material and a careful examination of images that also takes into account Greek sources and iconographic features. The authors are very familiar with the holdings of the Collection of Classical Antiquities, and with the 62 examples presented here they have made a representative selection from the approximately 700 vases on display in the Pergamonmuseum and Altes Museum. Many of the brilliant photographs were first produced for this volume by museum photographer Johannes Laurentius.