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Books > Arts & Architecture > Art forms, treatments & subjects > Sculpture & other three-dimensional art forms
The study of Roman sculpture has been an essential part of the
disciplines of Art History and Classics since the eighteenth
century. From formal concerns such as Kopienkritic (copy criticism)
to social readings of plebeian and patrician art and beyond,
scholars have returned to Roman sculpture to answer a variety of
questions about Roman art, society, and history. Indeed, the field
of Roman sculptural studies encompasses not only the full
chronological range of the Roman world but also its expansive
geography, and a variety of artistic media, formats, sizes, and
functions. Exciting new theories, methods, and approaches have
transformed the specialized literature on the subject in recent
decades. Rather than creating another chronological ARCH15OXH of
representative examples of various periods, genres, and settings,
The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture synthesizes current best
practices for studying this central medium of Roman art, situating
it within the larger fields of art history, classical archaeology,
and Roman studies. This volume fills the gap between introductory
textbooks-which hide the critical apparatus from the reader-and the
highly focused professional literature. The handbook conveniently
presents new technical, scientific, literary, and theoretical
approaches to the study of Roman sculpture in one reference volume
and complements textbooks and other publications that present
well-known works in the corpus. Chronologically, the volume
addresses material from the Early Republican period through Late
Antiquity. The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture not only
contributes to the field of classical art and archaeology but also
provides a useful reference for classicists and historians of the
ancient world.
With the increasing disappearance of stained glass in medieval
churches, the surviving wood carvings on church misericords and
bench ends are extremely important in providing an insight into the
medieval mind. The carved images were often used to convey the
messages of the Christian faith in the Middle Ages but they were
not just concerned with religion and religious symbols - they also
told stories of mythology, humour and satire, showing illustrations
of everyday life and people. This book outlines the history of
church seating and discusses the craftsmen and the influences
behind their work. Using illustrations, the author then explains
the subject matter of these wood carvings, revealing how one can
discover so much about medieval life - the spiritualism, moralism
and the wit - within the carvings still found in churches today.
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Ivory
(Hardcover)
Maggie Campbell Pedersen
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R1,507
R1,329
Discovery Miles 13 290
Save R178 (12%)
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Ships in 12 - 19 working days
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Ivory has been held in the highest esteem for millennia. This
comprehensive and authoritative study of this beautiful and
versatile material provides a global history of ivory - from the
myths and beliefs held by prehistoric man, through its utilitarian
uses in the Arctic and the beautiful carvings in medieval Europe,
to its links with war, the slave trade, and religion. Covering in
detail its composition and unique properties, its sources in the
animal kingdom and their conservation status, the book demonstrates
how ageing and the different types of ivory and its imitations can
be tested for and identified with confidence. Ivory also explores
how it has been worked by craftsmen and used over the years, from
carving and marquetry to the manufacture of black paint, as well as
the methods employed. Sound advice and useful tips are provided on
caring for ivory and on how to deal with ivory that has been
damaged, for example, by stains, scratches, cracks, or dirt.
Lavishly illustrated throughout with colour photographs, Ivory is
an invaluable guide for collectors, antique dealers, curators,
gemmologists, conservationists and frequenters of flea markets, as
well as those who simply love this attractive material.
By 1650, the spiritual and political power of the Catholic Church
was shattered. Thanks to the twin blows of the Protestant
Reformation and the Thirty Years War, Rome, celebrated both as the
Eternal City and Caput Mundi (the head of the world) had lost its
pre-eminent place in Europe. Then a new Pope, Alexander VII, fired
with religious zeal, political guile and a mania for building,
determined to restore the prestige of his church by making Rome the
must-visit destination for Europe's intellectual, political and
cultural elite. To help him do so, he enlisted the talents of
Gianlorenzo Bernini, already celebrated as the most important
living artist: no mean feat in the age of Rubens, Rembrandt and
Velazquez. Together, Alexander VII and Bernini made the greatest
artistic double act in history, inventing the concept of soft power
and the bucket list destination. Bernini and Alexander's creation
of Baroque Rome as a city more beautiful and grander than since the
days of the Emperor Augustus continues to delight and attract.
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