Johns Hopkins University has released Mysteries of the Kylix, a film that follows 13 undergraduate students who worked with a conservator and two potters to recreate the red-figure pottery drinking bowls crafted by Greek artisans between the sixth and fourth centuries B.C. The students practiced throwing pots, decorated them with images and slip, and fired the clay in a kiln that they constructed. They then examined their pottery under a portable x-ray fluorescence instrument. "The idea is to be thoughtful at every stage. To look at clay, make shapes, to choose images and paint, to go through the fire and...