The Lost Chalice by Vernon Silver
(from the back of the book)
Spanning 2,500 years and moving from a Trojan War
battlefield to an Athens pottery workshop to an Italian crypt, and involving
tomb robbers, smugglers, a Hollywood producer, and a Texas billionaire, The
Lost Chalice is a pulse-pounding real-life adventure story involving the search
for an ancient masterpiece missing for more than a decade. Created by Euphronios, an artist renowned as
the Leonardo da Vinci of ancient Greece, the chalice disappeared in 1990 after
an anonymous European dealer outbid the Metropolitan Museum of Art in an
auction at Sotheby’s.
Like City of Falling Angels and The Monster of Florence, The
Lost Chalice uses a high-profile crime to open a window onto Italian history,
culture, and life. The cup’s tale
mirrors the life story of a mysterious contemporary dealer who made a fortune
trading in antiquities – including the chalice – supplying the world’s greatest
museums and rich collectors with artifacts from archaeological sites. The Maserati-driving art dealer holds the key
to finding and saving the lost cup, but the discovery of the chalice’s fate
reveals another riddle – and even greater missing treasure.
The Lost Chalice follows the hunt for an ancient piece of
art that everyone knows exists but no one can seem to find. Along the way you learn about art history, grave
robbing, how people tried to stop grave robbing, how art objects with shady
pasts get false histories, art auctions, and the way that museums acquire
pieces. All of which turned out to be
much more interesting than I thought it would be. And the author really knows his stuff. I think part of my problem was that I have no
art history knowledge. It was tough for
me to get into this story. It started
slowly and was talking about chalices, vases, cups, kraters, and kylixes and it
took me a minute to realize that despite all the terms there were only two
objects being discussed and it took me even longer to be able to keep the two
straight. So it was a bit of a slog at
first. But then I got into the story, even
though there was a bit more detail than I think was needed at times, it was
interesting to watch the story of the chalice unfold. It reads a lot like a detective story as with
a few vague clues people try to make sense of the muddy history of the chalice
and figure out where it came from, where it went and everything that happened
to it in between. If you have no
background in art history you may find it slow going in the beginning but it
worth pushing on. It has a little
something for anyone who likes a detective story, true crime, or history.
