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Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles > BC to 500 CE, Ancient & classical world
Every society builds, and many, if not all, utilize architectural structures as markers to define place, patron, or experience. Often we consider these architectural markers as “monuments” or “monumental” buildings. Ancient Rome, in particular, is a society recognized for the monumentality of its buildings. While few would deny that the term “monumental” is appropriate for ancient Roman architecture, the nature of this characterization and its development in pre-Roman Italy is rarely considered carefully. What is “monumental” about Etruscan and early Roman architecture? Delving into the crucial period before the zenith of Imperial Roman building, Monumentality in Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture addresses such questions as, “What factors drove the emergence of scale as a defining element of ancient Italian architecture?” and “How did monumentality arise as a key feature of Roman architecture?” Contributors Elizabeth Colantoni, Anthony Tuck, Nancy A. Winter, P. Gregory Warden, John N. Hopkins, Penelope J. E. Davies, and Ingrid Edlund-Berry reflect on the ways in which ancient Etruscans and Romans utilized the concepts of commemoration, durability, and visibility to achieve monumentality. The editors’ preface and introduction underscore the notion of architectural evolution toward monumentality as being connected to the changing social and political strategies of the ruling elites. By also considering technical components, this collection emphasizes the development and the ideological significance of Etruscan and early Roman monumentality from a variety of viewpoints and disciplines. The result is a broad range of interpretations celebrating both ancient and modern perspectives.
Modernism in the visual arts has been defined as a liberation from the classical inheritance. The excitement of modern art is often seen to lie in its radical break with the past. But according to one standard narrative, the modern discipline of art history began only with a study of ancient art and sculpture. Johann Joachim Winckelmann's History of the Art of Antiquity, first published in 1764, set the precedent for the historical study of the visual arts, and is still the dominant method in art history today. The modern study of art and the making of modern art thus appear to be founded on incompatible principles: the one on the centrality of ancient art; the other on its utter repudiation. Elizabeth Prettejohn's important and revisionist new book starts from an opposite premise: that the modern study of ancient art and the making of modern art are inextricably intertwined. Subjecting Winckelmann's ideas to astute yet sympathetic critique, the author uses exciting theories of reception to construct a new theory of the relationship between ancient and modern art. Relating seminal ancient artifacts (such as Laocoon, the Parthenon Marbles and Venus de Milo) to modern interpretations by the likes of Alma-Tadema, Leighton, Rodin and Picasso, The Modernity of Ancient Sculpture will have strong appeal to students of art history and classics alike.
This wide-ranging survey, now established as the best single-volume introduction to Andean art and architecture on the market today, describes the strikingly varied artistic achievements of the Chavin, Paracas, Moche, Nasca, Chimu and Inca cultures, among others. For this fully revised third edition, Rebecca Stone has rewritten and expanded the text throughout, touching on many of the recent discoveries and advances in the field. These include new work on the huge stone pyramids and other structures at Caral; continued excavations of Inca child sacrifices perched on mountaintops throughout the empire, with their perfectly preserved clothing and miniature offerings of metal, ceramics and shell; spectacular murals and the remarkable burial of a tattooed female warrior-leader at the Moche site of Huaca Cao Viejo; and many new finds of high-status textiles, along with fresh analyses of weaving technology and new interpretations of designs and motifs.
The Ara Pacis Augustae, or Altar of Augustan Peace, was built to
commemorate the return to Rome of the emperor Augustus and his
general Agrippa, who had been away for many years on military
campaigns. Dedicated in 9 B.C., the monument consists of an altar
and surrounding wall, both decorated with a series of processional
friezes. Art historians and archaeologists have made the Ara Pacis
one of the best-known, most-studied monuments of Augustan Rome, but
Diane Conlin's reassessment of the artistic traditions in which its
sculptors worked makes a groundbreaking contribution to this
scholarship. Illustrated with over 250 photographs, Conlin's
innovative analysis demonstrates that the carvers of the monument's
large processional friezes were not Greek masters, as previously
assumed, but Italian-trained sculptors influenced by both native
and Hellenic stonecarving practices. Her systematic examination of
the physical evidence left by the sculptors themselves--the traces
of tool marks, the carving of specific details, the compositional
formulas of the friezes--also incorporates an informed
understanding of the historical context in which these artists
worked.
A reissue of Adolf Furtwangler's 1903 study of the Tropaion Traiani near Adamclisi, Romania.
A detailed study of mosaics from the Roman city of Italica now just north of Santiponce in the province of Seville. Romero surveys the history of their excavation, before treating the mosaics themtically, looking at first figurative, then geometric decoration, before considering manufacture and issues of conservation and restoration. Contains a full catalogue of the mosiacs. Spanish text.
The art of the human body is arguably the most important and wide-ranging legacy bequeathed to us by Classical antiquity. Not only has it directed the course of western image-making, it has shaped our collective cultural imaginary - as ideal, antitype, and point of departure. This book is the first concerted attempt to grapple with that legacy: it explores the complex relationship between Graeco-Roman images of the body and subsequent western engagements with them, from the Byzantine icon to Venice Beach (and back again). Instead of approaching his material chronologically, Michael Squire faces up to its inherent modernity. Writing in a lively and accessible style, and supplementing his text with a rich array of pictures, he shows how Graeco-Roman images inhabit our world as if they were our own. The Art of the Body offers a series of comparative and thematic accounts, demonstrating the range of cultural ideas and anxieties that were explored through the figure of the body both in antiquity and in the various cultural landscapes that came afterwards. If we only strip down our aesthetic investment in the corpus of Graeco-Roman imagery, Squire argues, this material can shed light on both ancient and modern thinking. The result is a stimulating process of mutual illumination - and an exhilarating new approach to Classical art history.
Denna skildring av romarrikets historia har blivit en klassiker. Det beror framfor allt pa forfattarens stora kunskaper och det lattillgangliga satt pa vilket det enorma amnesomradet presenteras.Forfattaren definierar sjalv bokens malgrupp: "Foreliggande arbete vander sig framst till den ganska stora allmanhet som har intresse av att lara kanna den historiska utvecklingen hos ett folk, vars lagar och institutioner fortlevat under arhundraden efter att dess politiska storhetstid upphort, och vars byggnader och minnesmarken av olika slag fortfarande kan beundras i hela Medelhavsomradet."Lasaren stalls saledes infor det enastaende historiska panorama som utspelas runt Medelhavet vars stater, stader, kulturer, vetenskaper och utgor sjalva fundamentet for vart eget samhalle.Forfattaren Hilding Thylander (1907-93) var docent 1953-74 i klassisk fornkunskap samt antikens historia vid Stockholms universitet, tillforordnad professor under olika perioder. Thylander tillhorde det fatal som var licentiat i saval latin som klassisk fornkunskap. Sekreterare 1957-1991 i Svenska Humanistiska Forbundet, styrelseledamot 1960-1979 i Svenska Arkeologiska Sallskapet. Produktiv som forfattare i sina specialamnen.
Color is an integral part of human experience, so common as to be overlooked or treated as unimportant. Yet color is both unavoidable and varied. Each culture classifies, understands, and uses it in different and often surprising ways, posing particular challenges to those who study color from long-ago times and places far distant. Veiled Brightness reconstructs what color meant to the ancient Maya, a set of linked peoples and societies who flourished in and around the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and Central America. By using insights from archaeology, linguistics, art history, and conservation, the book charts over two millennia of color use in a region celebrated for its aesthetic refinement and high degree of craftsmanship. The authors open with a survey of approaches to color perception, looking at Aristotelian color theory, recent discoveries in neurophysiology, and anthropological research on color. Maya color terminology receives new attention here, clarifying not just basic color terms, but also the extensional or associated meanings that enriched ancient Maya perception of color. The materials and technologies of Maya color production are assembled in one place as never before, providing an invaluable reference for future research. From these investigations, the authors demonstrate that Maya use of color changed over time, through a sequence of historical and artistic developments that drove the elaboration of new pigments and coloristic effects. These findings open fresh avenues for investigation of ancient Maya aesthetics and worldview and provide a model for how to study the meaning and making of color in other ancient civilizations.
From monumental tombs and domestic decoration, to acts of benefaction and portraits of ancestors, Roman freed slaves, or freedmen, were prodigious patrons of art and architecture. Traditionally, however, the history of Roman art has been told primarily through the monumental remains of the emperors and ancient writers who worked in their circles. In this study, Lauren Petersen critically investigates the notion of 'freedman art' in scholarship, dependent as it is on elite-authored texts that are filled with hyperbole and stereotypes of freedmen, such as the memorable fictional character Trimalchio, a boorish ex-slave in Petronius' Satyricon. She emphasizes integrated visual ensembles within defined historical and social contexts and aims to show how material culture can reflect preoccupations that were prevalent throughout Roman society. Interdisciplinary in scope, this book explores the many ways that monuments and artistic commissions by freedmen spoke to a much more complex reality than that presented in literature.
Some of the loveliest works of Archaic art were the Athenian korai-sculptures of beautiful young women presenting offerings to the goddess Athena that stood on the Acropolis. Sculpted in the sixth and early fifth centuries B.C., they served as votives until Persians sacked the citadel in 480/79 B.C. Subsequently, they were buried as a group and forgotten for nearly twenty-four centuries, until archaeologists excavated them in the 1880s. Today, they are among the treasures of the Acropolis Museum. Mary Stieber takes a fresh look at the Attic korai in this book. Challenging the longstanding view that the sculptures are generic female images, she persuasively argues that they are instead highly individualized, mimetically realistic representations of Archaic young women, perhaps even portraits of real people. Marshalling a wide array of visual and literary evidence to support her claims, she shows that while the korai lack the naturalism that characterizes later Classical art, they display a wealth and realism of detail that makes it impossible to view them as generic, idealized images. This iconoclastic interpretation of the Attic korai adds a new dimension to our understanding of Archaic art and to the distinction between realism and naturalism in the art of all periods.
A detailed study of Neolithic rock paintings in southern France, the majority of which lie to the east of the Rhone. Hameau discusses the theoretical and methodological aspects of studying schematic figures and motifs before presenting a large inventory of sites where each is described in terms of its location and situation, and in terms of the art found there. His final analysis of the art, the association between figures, animals and motifs, and the use of space, convince him that there was a set of precise rules followed by those who created the art. French text, short English summary.
"Clarke teaches us to think about how this art was understood and felt by those who lived with it in their daily lives and he speculates that it might even reflect what the Romans actually did. This is the first genuinely contextual and theoretically informed study we have of a vast panoply of classical art about sex. It will be an illuminating book for classicists, historians, and anybody else who finds lovemaking interesting."--Thomas Laqueur, author of "Making Sex "There are few scholars as able to take on this material, as well versed in theories of sexuality, and as comfortable dealing with both heterosexual and homoerotic content as Clarke. The topic is timely and the execution is professional."--Natalie Kampen, Barnard College "This book should attract not only classicists, but also scholars of sexuality in any field. Clarke succeeds both in introducing little-known material and in defamiliarizing the familiar examples of erotic art."--Anthony Corbeill, University of Kansas ""Looking at Lovemaking proves that the ancients were very different from you and me--that they saw sex not primarily as procreation and never as sin but rather as sport, art, and pleasure, an activity full of humor, tenderness and above all variety. John R. Clarke, by looking at Roman artifacts from several centuries destined to be used by different social classes, reveals that the erotic "visual record is far more varied, open-minded and playful than are "written moral strictures, which were narrowly formulated by the elite and for the elite. This book is at once discreet and bold--discreetly respectful of nuance and context, boldly clear in drawing the widest possible conclusions about themalleability of human behavior. Clarke has, with meticulous scholarship and a fresh approach, vindicated Foucault's revolutionary claims for the social construction of sexuality."--Edmund White, author of "The Beautiful Room is Empty
This text aims to overturn the frequent dismissal of Roman art as 'mosaics and uninspiring copies of Greek sculpture'. In place of the usual historical outline approach, this book looks at the subject by genre and considers the attitudes of Romans themselves to art. Drawing on literary sources as well as illustrations from many parts of the Roman world, this survey of Roman art to the time of Constantine considers what Romans hoped to achieve and how far they were successful.
Famed German type designer renders 493 symbols: religious, alchemical, imperial, runes, property marks, etc. Timeless.
Plato and Aristotle both believed that the arts were mimetic
creations of the human mind that had the power to influence
society. In this they were representative of a widespread consensus
in ancient culture. Cultural and political impulses informed the
fine arts, and these in turn shaped--and were often intended to
shape--the living world. The contributors to this volume, all of
whom have been encouraged and inspired by the work of Peter Green,
document the interaction between life and the arts that has made
art more lively and life more artful in sixteen essays with
subjects ranging from antiquity to modern times.
This handsomely illustrated book offers a broad synthesis of Archaic Greek culture. Unlike other books dealing with the art and architecture of the Archaic period, it places these subjects in their historical, social, literary, and intellectual contexts. Origins and originality constitute a central theme, for during this period representational and narrative art, monumental sculpture and architecture, epic, lyric, and dramatic poetry, the city-state (polis), tyranny and early democracy, and natural philosophy were all born.
What did the ancient Greeks think about their own art? J.J. Pollitt attempts to answer this question by studying the critical terminology of the ancient Greeks-the terms they used to describe and evaluate sculpture, painting, and architecture. Although Greeks and Romans with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests-including artists, philosophers, rhetoricians, historians, and guidebook writers-wrote about art in antiquity, very few of their works have survived. Mr. Pollitt has therefore had to draw largely on works of authors who, while discussing some other subject, make passing references to art for the purpose of analogy or illustration. By carefully assembling and organizing these fragments, he presents a coherent view of art criticism in ancient Greece. This study is divided into two parts. The first part provides a general history of Greek art criticism and its sources. The second is an extensive glossary which collects, translates, and analyzes passages from Greek and Latin authors in which important critical terms are used. The book can therefore be used by art historians and classicists as both a scholarly text and an important work of reference.
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Die Sculpturen Des Vaticanischen Museums, Im Auftrage Und Unter Mitwirkung Des Kaiserlich Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts(romische Abteilung): Belvedere. Sala Degli Animali. Galleria Delle Statue. Sala De' Busti. Gabinetto Delle Maschere. Loggia Scoperta. Text Und 83 Tafeln; Volume 2 Of Die Sculpturen Des Vaticanischen Museums, Im Auftrage Und Unter Mitwirkung Des Kaiserlich Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts; Georg Lippold; Die Skulpturen Des Vaticanischen Museums; Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Romische Abteilung Walther Amelung, Georg Lippold, Vatican. Museo vaticano, Vatican City. Direzione generale dei monumenti, musei e gallerie pontificie, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Romische Abteilung G. Reimer, 1908 Sculpture
As they had during the Renaissance, ruins in the eighteenth century continued to serve as places of exchange between antiquity and modern times and between one architect and another. Rome functioned as a cultural entrepot, drawing to it architects of the caliber of Filippo Juvarra, Robert Adam, Charles-Louis Clerisseau, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Through their collaboration, on-site exchanges, publications, and polemics, architects contributed notably to fashioning a more critical and sophisticated view of the material heritage of classical antiquity, one that we associate with the Enlightenment and the origins of modern archaeology. In this lavishly illustrated volume stemming from his Thomas Spencer Jerome Lectures at the University of Michigan and the American Academy in Rome, distinguished architectural historian John A. Pinto traces an extraordinary path through the development of European architecture. This period saw the transformation of history and archaeology. Texts were treated more sceptically as scholars placed greater reliance on artefacts as sources of information, and architects such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi increasingly played a crucial role in the recording and visual presentation of ancient art and architecture. Piranesi and other eighteenth-century architects active in Rome explored the full creative potential of ancient architecture, its dual metaphorical function as both palimpsest and template. Their responses to the ruins of Rome, as well as other parts of the classical world, created a significant body of historical knowledge, but also propelled them to create new and dazzling designs, such as the Trevi Fountain, Santa Maria del Priorato, and Syon House. Their elaborate study and accurate renderings of ancient sites enriched contemporary understanding of the material heritage of classical antiquity; their informed conjectures and flights of fancy gave it wings. Their encounters on sites such as Hadrian's Villa and Pompeii, where the ruins spoke with great eloquence, greatly enriched the architectural discourse of the Enlightenment. Speaking Ruins emphasises the close relationship between the intensifying archaeological explorations in this period especially in Rome and vicinity, but also in Greece and the Levant, and the development of post-Baroque styles in architecture, shading gradually into romanticism and neoclassicism. Speaking Ruins is an investigation of the legacy of classical antiquity. As a study of the classical tradition, it should be of particular interest to classicists and archaeologists, while its argument that eighteenth-century Rome provided a crucible for the developing disciplines of archaeology and art history will engage the interest of a wide range of humanistic scholars. Speaking Ruins tells a fascinating story, with Piranesi and his works centrally involved. Publication of this volume was in part supported by a grant from the Barr Ferree Fund, Princeton University.
Through the 19th century, as archaeology started to emerge as a systematic discipline, plaster casting became a widely-adopted technique, newly applied by archaeologists to document and transmit discoveries from their expeditions. The Parthenon sculptures were some of the first to be cast. In the late 18th century and the first years of the 19th century, the French artist Fauvel and Lord Elgin's men conducted campaigns on the Athenian Acropolis. Both created casts of parts of the Parthenon sculptures that they did not remove and these were sent back to France and Britain where they were esteemed and displayed alongside other, original sections. Henceforth, casting was established as an essential archaeological tool and grew exponentially over the course of the century. Such casts are now not only fascinating historical objects but may also be considered time capsules, capturing the details of important ancient works when they were first moulded in centuries past. This book examines the role of 19th century casts as an archaeological resource and explores how their materiality and spread impacted the reception of the Parthenon sculptures and other Greek and Roman works. Investigation of their historical context is combined with analysis of new digital models of the Parthenon sculptures and their casts. Sensitive 3D imaging techniques allow investigation of the surface markings of the objects in exceptionally fine detail and enable quantitative comparative studies comparing the originals and the casts. The 19th century casts are found to be even more accurate, but also complex, than anticipated; through careful study of their multiple layers, we can retrieve surface information now lost from the originals through weathering and vandalism.
Combining the studies of modern film, traditional narratology, and Roman art, this interdisciplinary work explores the complex and highly visual techniques of Tacitus' Annales. The volume opens with a discussion of current research in narratology, as applied to Roman historians. Narratology is a helpful and insightful tool, but is often inadequate to deal with specifically visual aspects of ancient narrative. In order to illuminate Tacitus' techniques, and to make them speak to modern readers, this book focuses on drawing and illustrating parallels between Tacitus' historiographical methods and modern film effects. Building on these premises, Waddell examines a wide array of Tacitus' visual narrative devices. Tacitean examples are discussed in light of their narrative effect and purpose in the Annales, as well as the ways in which they are similar to contemporary Roman art and modern film techniques, including focalization, alignment, use of the ambiguous gaze, temporal suggestion and quick-cutting. Through this approach the modern scholar gains a deeper understanding of the many ways in which Tacitus' Annales act upon the reader, and how his narrative technique helps to shape, guide, and deeply layer his history.
Designed to be a useful travel companion, this book's descriptions and interpretative analyses help show the monuments in a new way, through an understanding of the historical, artistic and political events that contributed to their creation. Through the text and the illustrations we get to know the gods and heroes who were worshipped on the Acropolis, the leaders who envisaged the major projects, the artists who brought them to fruition, as well as the innovative ideas they applied, and the Athenian citizens who admired and enjoyed these achievements. 95 colour illustrations.
Last, largest, and most splendid of the early imperial forums, the
Forum of Trajan (A.D. 112) was the acknowledged showplace of
ancient Rome. Ammianus Marcellinus called the Forum "a construction
unique under the heavens, as we believe, and admirable even in the
unanimous opinion of the gods." Yet, despite its formidable ancient
reputation, the Forum of Trajan has only once in the present
century been the subject of a close study. This three-volume
publication, the result of twenty-five years of labor, is the first
comprehensive study ever undertaken. It includes a history of the
site, an examination of all previous scholarship, a modern
reconstruction of it in beautiful architectural renderings, and
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