ART OF ROME, ETRURIA, AND MAGNA GRAECIA. 125 Plates, Including 108 In Full Color; Map; Chronological Tables

brown full cloth 4to ~ 4º (quarto ~ 8"x9"). large book. dustwrapper in protective brodart book jacket cover. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers clean with minor fading along the bottom. edges clean. front flyleaf has "German" inscribed in blue ink (possibly the author ?), otherwise contents free of markings. dustwrapper in vg cond. rubbed, scratched, 1cm tear on front, not price clipped (no price listed). nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates. text has no inking, notes or underlining. no remainder markings. first edition. first printing (nap). illustrated endpapers. 264p. glossy pages throughout. 108 full color plates. every page illustrated in full glossy color and/or b&w. many full page plates. chronological tables. map. bibliography. index. archaeology. art history. ancient history. history of architecture. mythology. religion. ancient literature. estruscans. ~ In his clear and often exciting narrative, Professor German Hafner analyzes twelve centuries of brilliant creative endeavor and traces the intricate pattern of cultural and artistic relationships between the various regions of Italy, Greece, and the lands of the Orient. To an Italy that was a welter of small tribes and cities struggling for supremacy, Greek settlers early brought their culture. They created ceramics, statues, paintings, and buildings worthy of the highest achievements of their homeland before lapsing into barbarism as the Romans embarked on their long climb to world rule. In bringing about the political unity of Italy, the Romans absorbed the cultural elements of the peoples they conquered~ especially of the Greeks, and not least through the medium of the mysterious Etruscans ~ until step by step Italy came to form a single artistic unit with its center at Rome. The end of the Roman Republic ushered in an age of Imperial grandeur with lavish mosaics and wall paintings, precious cameos and coins, and an outstanding architectural heritage. The standard of what we now regard as distinctively Roman art spread throughout the Empire, now taking on a classical purity that reflects Greek models, now blossoming with a baroque exuberance into forms that, many generations later, were to delight and inspire Renaissance Europe. Beautifully illustrated in this book are the dancers, wrestlers, warriors, horsemen, centaurs, gods, goddesses, and other themes that, throughout Antiquity, moved the peoples of the Mediterranean lands to the heights of artistic achievement. Above all, however, superb photographs of the buildings that still survive to astound the modern tourist emphasize that it was in the field of architecture that the creative spirit of the age truly excelled.…