Of Monsters and Flowers

Abstract

This chapter first discusses the new style of imagery and ornament that emerged during the fifth century BC. The new style has been the source of endless controversy since the latter half of the nineteenth century. Strange creatures, part human, part beast, were crafted onto gold and bronze jewelry and cast onto the handles and lids of bronze vessels. Metalsmiths created lush new forms of decoration—incised and relief ornament based on floral motifs such as leaves and petals, with spirals, S-curves, and whirligigs decorating objects ranging from pottery to sword scabbards. This style was a radical departure from the forms of representation and decoration that preceded it. The chapter then sets out the book's purpose, namely to study a two-thousand-year period in Europe, from 2000 BC to the Roman conquests during the last century BC and the first century AD, known by the terms “Bronze Age” and “Iron Age.”