First published in 1985, this ground-breaking book surveys the development of Cycladic sculpture produced by unidentified artists who worked in the Aegean islands forty-five hundred years ago. Illustrated with numerous objects from American collections—with particular emphasis on some two dozen pieces in the Getty Museum—this volume surveys the typological development of Early Cycladic sculpture and identifies, where possible, the work of individual sculptors. Newly revised and updated, this book is a concise introduction to the field.

The exhibition Silent Witnesses is a succinct presentation in the third millennium AD of the picture we have of the Cycladic islanders in the third millennium BC. Cycladic works of art speak to the modern audience both through their silence, as objects of unique conception and beauty, and as testimonies of a brilliant and significant culture that flourished in the Cyclades at the dawn of Western Civilization. Silent Witnesses is divided into three thematic sections: Simple Beauty, In His Own Image, and Silent Witnesses. In Simple Beauty, the exhibition presents streamlined, elegant objects with quotidian uses but whose beauty places them in the realm of sculpture. These artifacts were made from readily available materials on the islands, such as wood, marble, bone and stone. The section In His Own Image examines the variety of sculptures based on the human form, revealing the anthropocentric aspects of Aegean culture of this time. The final section, Silent Witnesses, presents the contents of graves that were systematically excavated by archaeologists. Having been collected as objects d'art, they are presented here as artifacts for serious historical and scientific examination. This final section emphasizes the need to educate the public about these pieces whose heritage was nearly lost. This volume explores the artistic tradition that existed in the so-called prehistoric period in the Cyclades. It includes illustrations and descriptions of the 59 objects in the exhibition such as clay and stone vases and of course numerous examples of the renowned Cycladic marble figurines.

Annotation "Personal Styles in Early Cycladic Sculpture represents the culmination of thirty-five years of study. Pat Getz-Gentle offers here much new material and many fresh insights into a tradition, rooted in the Neolithic period, that spanned most of the third millennium B.C. She begins with a review of this tradition, placing particular emphasis on the stages leading to the reclining figure with folded arms that is the unique and quintessential icon of the early Bronze Age culture at the center of the Aegean. She then focuses on the styles of fifteen sculptors, several of whom are identified and discussed for the first time in this volume. By introducing little-known pieces attributable to these sculptors, she illuminates various phases of their artistic development."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This book presents highlights of the ancient Cycladic antiquities spanning more than three thousand years (5300–2200 BCE) from the Leonard N. Stern Collection. The featured works, on display at The Met through a special collaboration with the Hellenic Republic, include mesmerizing figurative sculptures as well as marble and terracotta vessels and metalwork. Seán Hemingway, John A. and Carole O. Moran Curator in Charge of the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Met, writes eloquently about the subtleties of Cycladic craftsmanship during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Beautiful photography of the collection attests to the power of the seminal tradition of stone carving in Cycladic civilization.

This second volume on Early Cycladic (and Cycladicising) sculptures found in the Aegean, examines finds from mainland Greece, along with the rarer items from the north and east Aegean, with the exception of those discovered in the Cyclades (covered in the preceding volume), and of those found in Crete. The significance of these finds is that these are the principal testimonies of the influence of the Early Bronze Age Cycladic cultures in the wider Aegean. This influence is shown both by the export of sculptures produced in the Cyclades (and made of Cycladic marble), and of their imitations, produced elsewhere in the Aegean, usually of local marble. They hold the key, therefore, to the cultural interactions developing at this time, the so-called ‘international spirit’ manifest particularly during the Aegean Early Bronze II period. This was the time when the foundations of early Aegean civilization were being laid, and the material documented is thus of considerable significance. The volume is divided into sections wherein contributions examine finds and their archaeological, social, and economic contexts from specific regions. It concludes with an overview of the significance and role of these objects in Early Bronze Age societies of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region. This will be the first time that this material has been systematically gathered together. Highly illustrated, it follows and builds on the successful preceding volume, Early Cycladic Sculpture in Context (Oxbow 2016).

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York, Oct. 1-Dec. 31, 2006.