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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Curtis, post: 24887453, member: 26430&quot;]<i><b>Just some Greek ones here:</b></i> I think about the Greek representations of helmets as existing along a continuum with two poles, either of which can be done with great artistry:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. Corinthian Helmets</b>.</p><p><i>Simple but elegant. The minimalist approach</i>:</p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1598501[/ATTACH]</p><p>The beauty is in the three-dimensional shape and the use of empty space, its gentle open curves and contours, and the contrast with the more finely detailed elements in the design (e.g., the facial portrait and control symbols)</p><p><br /></p><p>(click: <i>embiggen!</i>) [ATTACH]1598520[/ATTACH]&nbsp; [ATTACH]1598510[/ATTACH]&nbsp; [ATTACH]1598509[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>2. Attic Helmets</b>.</p><p><i>Elaborate and busy. The maximalist approach</i>:</p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1598505[/ATTACH]</p><p>The &quot;New Style&quot; Athens engravers packed in as much decoration as they could. When poorly executed, the Tetradrachms feel &quot;crowded&quot;; done effectively, they are graceful and delicate.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]1598521[/ATTACH] (<i>embiggenable</i>)</p><p><br /></p><p>On that one, I love how the curved and busy &quot;interior&quot; contrasts so perfectly with the flat, empty planes (even plains) of the fields.</p><p><br /></p><p>All bounded by perfectly hemispherical beads in a perfectly circular border. (Look at the care taken in just that minor element! To many collectors, this may be just another one of so many dies and minor varieties in the vast &quot;New Style&quot; series, and perhaps it was to the 2nd cent. BCE Athenians too, but to me it&#039;s a thing of beauty, a clear example of the late Hellenistic vision, memorialized so that we might share their artistic imagination even millennia later.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Just the helmets, please</b>. <i>Little ones. (Coupez-leur la tête!)</i></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1598507[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I love small coins, especially Greek silver fractions. It&#039;s amazing to see elaborate details captured on tiny scale, but also to see how the elegant minimalism of the Corinthian helmet translates in miniature.</p><p>(click: <i>embiggen</i>) [ATTACH]1598506[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1598522[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Every bit of attention is still given to the lines, the angles, and the contours. Especially of the eyes and nose-guards, which receive greater emphasis when the engravers are freed from the obligation to depict their occupants.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1598508[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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