Throughout the history of art, certain works stand out as the singular creations of virtuoso artists. For ancient Greek art, think of the black-figure amphora in the Vatican Museum by Exekias that represents Achilles and Ajax, which was made about a generation before the Sarpedon krater, or the Hellenistic bronze Statue of a Boxer at Rest in the Museo Nazionale Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome. For those less familiar with ancient art, consider the Apollo and Daphne (1622–25), a marble sculpture group by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from Baroque Italy, or think of El Greco’s remarkable landscape painting View of Toledo (1596–1600), now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. The vase signed by Euphronios as painter and Euxitheos as potter that is the subject of Nigel Spivey’s engaging and erudite new book ranks among these masterworks. It is a worthy subject for the kind of in-depth analysis that Spivey provides, and one that rewards detailed scrutiny. In his preface, Spivey begins to make the case for the vase being a landmark work—noting its monumental quality and high market value as he outlines his wide-ranging approach.

He goes on to consider the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the vase and the long battle for its custody. It is not a happy story, but nonetheless serves as an important cautionary tale about the chase for a masterpiece by a major museum—the Met in New York—and the subsequent repatriation of the artwork. There is a silver lining to this