A couple in the midst of making love stare out at us with looks of mild annoyance, as if they only just realized we were watching them. We cannot help but feel a slight embarrassment, for the moment is indeed an intimate one, though a vital, necessary part of life. The vases of Moche Peru--intended for burial--celebrate the life of this world in all of its infinite variety. Like an antidote to death, they seem to proclaim a message of renewal and continuity. Centuries after this vase was created, the fundamentals of human existence remain unchanged.