Helga Bumke undertakes a chronological study of small and large group sculptures in Greek art from the Geometric Period up to Early Classical times (8th - 5th centuries BC). Using individual analyses, she discusses questions regarding reconstruction, composition and, in part, questions of the original context of the composition against the background of the visualisation and thought structures of the particular epoch.

In contrast to previous appreciations of group statues, the author is concerned not only with the formal principles of the composition, but equally with the visualisation of the content relationships between the figures in the groups. Thus she comes to a new interpretation of group formation in the different epochs and shows that the compositional rules are of central significance for an understanding of the particular compositional characteristics and underlying history of ideas for the particular epoch.

Autorentext
Helga Bumke ist Wissenschaftliche Assistentin am Archäologischen Institut der Universität Bonn.

Zusammenfassung
"[...] a rich source of information and full of very useful and healthy criticisms."J.M. Hemelrijk in: Babesch 11/2007 "Die Stärke des Buches liegt in den einlässlichen, sorgfältigen Einzelinterpretationen."Dietrich Willers in: Museum Helveticum 63/2006