THREE FROM THE SEA

HEROIC measures have been taken through the centuries to preserve the art of ancient civilizations, but in some cases the best preservation was disguised as destruction. Swallowed up and believed lost forever when ships carrying them went down, countless Greek statues rested at the bottom of the sea for a couple of millenniums. Now many of them have been fished out, and it is plain that Father Neptune was a first-rate curator. Among others, three bronzes, of a god a philosopher and a youth (opposite), came up looking little the worse for their long immersion, were sent back to the place of their origin, and are now on view at the National Museum in Athens.

These three from the sea make their latest appearance with more than 150 other works of art in Greek Sculpture, text by Reinhard Lullies, photographs by Max Hirmer (Abrams; $12.50), a handsome book that presents the entire range of Greek sculpture, from its origins to its final decadence, through Greek originals exclusively, instead of the usual mixture with spiritless Roman copies. In form, these figures are exactly what the ancient Greeks saw. But the note originally struck is muted: the brilliant colors with which the Greeks painted their statues have rubbed off the marble, and the burnished-gold hue of the bronzes has tarnished. Nonetheless, like buildings whose stone fac,ades take on a glowing quality with age, the Greek bronzes may be no less winning for their centuries-mellowed patina.

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