Gift inscription in ink to ffep from author to Jenifer Neils. Minor edgewear and faint creasing to wraps. ; Important scientific catalogue, Italian only, showing the 53 vases and fragments of the Greek not Attic black-figure pottery originally forming part of the valuable collection that Mario Astarita donated to Pope Paul VI in 1967. The classification, resulted from a complex historical and archival research, although concerning the less conspicuous part of the collection, has experienced considerable difficulties both for the heterogeneity of the finds that compose it, and for the lack of data on their origins. The finds, in prevalence of Corinthian production, are divided by class and analyzed for type and shape, even including factories that are not identifiable. Much of the volume is dedicated to the vessel that takes the name of the collection, the "Astarita Crater", highlighting not only the archaeological and scientific prestige but also the literary and artistic value. The critical cards offer meticulous descriptions of the iconographic themes and decorations, analysis of the material and of the state of conservation, unpublished reconstructions and hypotheses of attribution, as well as a thorough bibliographical apparatus. Following the cards, there is the scheme of concordances between the various classification of vessels and fragments. Particularly valuable are the tables closing the volume that show the 53 artifacts in detail. ; Vasi Antichi Dipinti Del Vaticano; 144 pages; Signed by Author
