Acknowledgments

I extend my sincere and affectionate gratitude to the staff of the J. Paul Getty Museum, particularly to Claire Lyons, curator of Antiquities, and Karol Wight, former senior curator of Antiquities, who supported and encouraged me through the many stages of this project, assuring an ongoing dialogue that has enriched me and this project enormously. A grateful acknowledgment goes to Marion True, former curator of Antiquities, who initially entrusted this project to me in the conviction that it would be a significant addition to scholarly knowledge of the Getty collections.

I would also like to thank current and former colleagues in the Department of Antiquities—Mary Louise Hart, Kenneth Lapatin, Janet Burnett Grossman, John Papadopoulos, and Alexandra Sofroniew—whose professionalism and collaboration made my task a privilege and a pleasure. Special thanks are due to Jerry Podany, former senior conservator of Antiquities, Jeffrey Maish, Susan Lansing Maish, Erik Risser, Marie Svoboda in the Department of Antiquities Conservation, and to David Scott, for their observations on and contributions to the scientific analysis of several terracottas. Stimulating discussions of technical problems made me more confident in my understanding of unusual aspects of some of the terracottas. I am grateful to Benedicte Gilman, Marina Belozerskaya, Ruth Evans Lane, Elizabeth Kahn, Greg Albers, Eric Gardner, Stephanie Grimes, Rachel Barth, and other staff at Getty Publications who made this catalogue a reality.

I am especially grateful to Clemente Marconi, first editor of the manuscript, and Caterina Greco for their continuing intellectual generosity and enlightening conversations.

Heartfelt thanks are owed to all the colleagues who offered suggestions to improve and enrich the work, though responsibility for any errors or omissions rests with me alone. In particular, it was a privilege to have the superb guidance of Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, Paola Pelagatti, and Salvatore Settis, who found the time and patience to read and review parts of this book. I had stimulating and invaluable conversations with Gianfranco Adornato, Nunzio Allegro, Nicola Bonacasa, Paolo Carafa, Rosa Maria Cucco, Maria Antonietta Dell’Aglio, Daniel Graepler, Maria Costanza Lentini, Enzo Lippolis, Paolo Moreno, Giampaolo Nadalini, Erik Østby, Nicoletta Poli, Valeria Tardo, Stefano Vassallo, and Carla Aleo Nero.

My gratitude goes also to my family for their patience in enduring my preoccupations during the production of the book.