Greek and Roman Mosaics

Greek and Roman Mosaics PDF Author: Umberto Pappalardo
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0789213397
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The best-illustrated survey of a spectacular ancient art, now available in an affordable edition Mosaic has been called “painting for eternity,” and it is in fact one of the few arts of antiquity to survive in something like its original condition and variety. Mosaic pavements with geometric and figural motifs first appeared in Greece at the end of the fifth century BC and subsequently spread throughout the classical world, from the palaces of emperors and kings to even relatively modest private homes. Across the Mediterranean, local workshops cultivated many distinctive regional styles, while traveling teams of Hellenistic craftsmen produced figural mosaics of stunning refinement, often modeled after famous paintings; indeed, their work constitutes one of our only records of classical Greek painting, which has been almost entirely lost. The styles and techniques of the ancient mosaicist’s art are given a concise yet authoritative exposition in the first part of this handsome volume. The second, and larger, part conducts the reader on a chronologically ordered tour of the most important centers of the art form’s development, from the Macedonian capital of Pella, whose compositions in natural pebbles set a high artistic standard for mosaics at the beginning of their history, to the Basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna, whose wall and vault mosaics, with their glittering vision of a triumphant Christianity, mark the transition between antiquity and the Middle Ages. Special attention is given to Pompeii and its surroundings, where the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 preserved intact an astonishing variety of mosaics, including such ambitious figural scenes as the famous Alexander Mosaic, composed of some four million miniscule tesserae, as well as characteristically Roman pavements in black and white, and the brightly colored wall mosaics of garden grottoes. Featuring more than 230 vibrant photographs, many newly commissioned, Greek and Roman Mosaics is the first survey of its subject to be illustrated in full color. It will be an essential visual reference for every student of classical antiquity, and a source of considerable delight for art lovers.

Greek and Roman Mosaics

Greek and Roman Mosaics PDF Author: Umberto Pappalardo
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0789213397
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The best-illustrated survey of a spectacular ancient art, now available in an affordable edition Mosaic has been called “painting for eternity,” and it is in fact one of the few arts of antiquity to survive in something like its original condition and variety. Mosaic pavements with geometric and figural motifs first appeared in Greece at the end of the fifth century BC and subsequently spread throughout the classical world, from the palaces of emperors and kings to even relatively modest private homes. Across the Mediterranean, local workshops cultivated many distinctive regional styles, while traveling teams of Hellenistic craftsmen produced figural mosaics of stunning refinement, often modeled after famous paintings; indeed, their work constitutes one of our only records of classical Greek painting, which has been almost entirely lost. The styles and techniques of the ancient mosaicist’s art are given a concise yet authoritative exposition in the first part of this handsome volume. The second, and larger, part conducts the reader on a chronologically ordered tour of the most important centers of the art form’s development, from the Macedonian capital of Pella, whose compositions in natural pebbles set a high artistic standard for mosaics at the beginning of their history, to the Basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna, whose wall and vault mosaics, with their glittering vision of a triumphant Christianity, mark the transition between antiquity and the Middle Ages. Special attention is given to Pompeii and its surroundings, where the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 preserved intact an astonishing variety of mosaics, including such ambitious figural scenes as the famous Alexander Mosaic, composed of some four million miniscule tesserae, as well as characteristically Roman pavements in black and white, and the brightly colored wall mosaics of garden grottoes. Featuring more than 230 vibrant photographs, many newly commissioned, Greek and Roman Mosaics is the first survey of its subject to be illustrated in full color. It will be an essential visual reference for every student of classical antiquity, and a source of considerable delight for art lovers.

Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World

Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World PDF Author: Katherine M. D. Dunbabin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521002301
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive account of mosaics in the ancient world from the early pebble mosaics of Greece to the pavements of Christian churches in the East. Separate chapters in Part I cover the principal regions of the Roman Empire in turn, in order to bring out the distinctive characteristics of their mosaic workshops. Questions of technique and production, of the role of mosaics in architecture, and of their social functions and implications are treated in Part II. The book discusses both well-known works and recent finds, and balances consideration of exceptional masterpieces against standard workshop production. Two main lines of approach are followed throughout: first, the role of mosaics as a significant art form, which over an unbroken span illuminates the evolution of pictorial style better than any comparable surviving medium; and secondly, their character as works of artisan production closely linked to their architectural context.

Ancient Mosaics

Ancient Mosaics PDF Author: Roger Ling
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
This text traces the history of mosaics, examining its chronological evolution from Hellenistic to Early Christian times and its regional variations. Topics discussed include mosaic technique and workshop organization and the relationship of mosaic to other forms of interior design.

Artists and Signatures in Ancient Greece

Artists and Signatures in Ancient Greece PDF Author: Jeffrey M. Hurwit
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107105714
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
This book offers insight into Greek conceptions of art, the artist, and artistic originality by examining artists' signatures in ancient Greece.

The World Underfoot

The World Underfoot PDF Author: Hallie M. Franks
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190863188
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
In the Greek Classical period, the symposium--the social gathering at which male citizens gathered to drink wine and engage in conversation--was held in a room called the andron. From couches set up around the perimeter, symposiasts looked inward to the room's center, which often was decorated with a pebble mosaic floor. These mosaics provided visual treats for the guests, presenting them with images of mythological scenes, exotic flora, dangerous beasts, hunting parties, or the spectre of Dionysos: the god of wine, riding in his chariot or on the back of a panther. In The World Underfoot, Hallie M. Franks takes as her subject these mosaics and the context of their viewing. Relying on discourses in the sociology and anthropology of space, she presents an innovative new interpretation of the mosaic imagery as an active contributor to the symposium as a metaphorical experience. Franks argues that the images on mosaic floors, combined with the ritualized circling of the wine cup and the physiological reaction to wine during the symposium, would have called to mind other images, spaces, or experiences, and in doing so, prompted drinkers to reimagine the symposium as another kind of event--a nautical voyage, a journey to a foreign land, the circling heavens or a choral dance, or the luxury of an abundant past. Such spatial metaphors helped to forge the intimate bonds of friendship that are the ideal result of the symposium and that make up the political and social fabric of the Greek polis.

A Greek Mosaic

A Greek Mosaic PDF Author: Fay N Kozas
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595345409
Category : Greek Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
Growing up as the privileged daughter of a Greek family during the time of the Turkish occupation, nothing was good enough for her. Her father, a wealthy merchant, makes deals to smuggle his daughter and her future husband to Odessa where they will be safe until Greece is free once again. What happens on the night before her wedding changes her life forever.

Byzantine Mosaics

Byzantine Mosaics PDF Author: Nano Chatzidakis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
With the luxury of their materials, technical precision, beauty, and aesthetic grandeur, Byzantine mosaics, particularly the wall mosaics, constitute the most impressive manifestation of Byzantine monumental painting. Highly expensive and laborious works of art, they were commissioned and dedicated by emperors, dignitaries, state officials and members of the Church hierarchy, in order to enhance the dwellings of Divinity, important churches and monasteries; and at the same time to manifest the power, glory and legendary wealth of His earthly representatives. A brilliant selection of mosaics from twenty-five famous monuments are presented here by Nano Chatzidakis, Professor of Byzantine Art and Archaeology at the University of Ioannina. In historical and stylistic terms, they cover the development of mosaic art from the 5th to the 14th century, which is described and analysed efficiently by the author in the first part of the volume. The unique pictorial character and special artistic importance of each individual mosaic ensemble presented in this volume is superbly illustrated and emerges strikingly through a full discussion of the stylistic and aesthetic physiognomy of the mosaics it comprises, and a brief reference to the monument it adorns.

Art

Art PDF Author: Stephen Farthing
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 576

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Book Description


Artists and Artistic Production in Ancient Greece

Artists and Artistic Production in Ancient Greece PDF Author: Kristen Seaman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107074460
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
Artists and Artistic Production in Ancient Greece questions many long-held ideas and provides a deeper understanding of particular artists and architects.

Roman Mosaics in the J. Paul Getty Museum

Roman Mosaics in the J. Paul Getty Museum PDF Author: Alexis Belis
Publisher: J. Paul Getty Museum
ISBN: 9781606064979
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The mosaics in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum span the second through the sixth centuries AD and reveal the diversity of compositions found throughout the Roman Empire during this period. Elaborate floors of stone and glass tesserae transformed private dwellings and public buildings alike into spectacular settings of vibrant color, figural imagery, and geometric design. Scenes from mythology, nature, daily life, and spectacles in the arena enlivened interior spaces and reflected the cultural ambitions of wealthy patrons. This online catalogue documents all of the mosaics in the Getty Museum’s collection, presenting their artistry in new color photography as well as the contexts of their discovery and excavation across Rome's expanding empire—from its center in Italy to provinces in southern Gaul, North Africa, and ancient Syria. The free online edition of this open-access catalogue, available at www.getty.edu/publications/romanmosaics/, includes zoomable high-resolution photography, embedded glossary terms and additional comparative images, and interactive maps drawn from the Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire. Also available are free PDF, EPUB, and Kindle/MOBI downloads of the book, CSV and JSON downloads of the object data from the catalogue, and JPG and PPT downloads of the main catalogue images.