The Ara Pacis Augustae and the Imagery of Abundance in Later Greek and Early Roman Imperial Art

The Ara Pacis Augustae and the Imagery of Abundance in Later Greek and Early Roman Imperial Art PDF Author: David Castriota
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780691037158
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
David Castriota examines one of the most important monuments of early Roman Imperial art, the Ara Pacis Augustae, the sculptured marble altar built to celebrate the peace, prosperity, and stability initiated by the reign of Augustus in the later first century b.c. Castriota argues that the floral decoration of the altar enclosure was profoundly significant, operating as a visual counterpart to the technique of metonymy in language. It utilized an array of realistic plants and flowers as allusive elements associated with various gods and goddesses, which together symbolized the support and blessing of the Roman divinities for the Augustan regime. Supporting his argument with evidence from Greek and Roman literature and religion, Castriota shows that the planners of the Ara Pacis adapted and expanded a long tradition of symbolic floral decoration from Greek monumental arts. Throughout his work, Castriota demonstrates that the Roman absorption of Greek precedent enabled viewers to recognize the intended message of divine sponsorship. By examining the origins of the Ara Pacis within its broader historical setting, the author provides new insights into a crucial period that witnessed the emergence of a distinctly Roman Imperial art.

The Ara Pacis Augustae and the Imagery of Abundance in Later Greek and Early Roman Imperial Art

The Ara Pacis Augustae and the Imagery of Abundance in Later Greek and Early Roman Imperial Art PDF Author: David Castriota
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780691037158
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Get Book Here

Book Description
David Castriota examines one of the most important monuments of early Roman Imperial art, the Ara Pacis Augustae, the sculptured marble altar built to celebrate the peace, prosperity, and stability initiated by the reign of Augustus in the later first century b.c. Castriota argues that the floral decoration of the altar enclosure was profoundly significant, operating as a visual counterpart to the technique of metonymy in language. It utilized an array of realistic plants and flowers as allusive elements associated with various gods and goddesses, which together symbolized the support and blessing of the Roman divinities for the Augustan regime. Supporting his argument with evidence from Greek and Roman literature and religion, Castriota shows that the planners of the Ara Pacis adapted and expanded a long tradition of symbolic floral decoration from Greek monumental arts. Throughout his work, Castriota demonstrates that the Roman absorption of Greek precedent enabled viewers to recognize the intended message of divine sponsorship. By examining the origins of the Ara Pacis within its broader historical setting, the author provides new insights into a crucial period that witnessed the emergence of a distinctly Roman Imperial art.

The Artists of the Ara Pacis

The Artists of the Ara Pacis PDF Author: Diane Atnally Conlin
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 9780807823439
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
Conlin questions the long-held assumption that the friezes' sculptors were anonymous Greek masters, directly influenced by the reliefs carved on the Parthenon. Through close analysis of the sculptures, Conlin demonstrates that the carvers of the large processional friezes were actually Italian-trained sculptors influenced by both native and Hellenic stonecarving practices. Her conclusions rest on a systematic examination of the evidence left on the marble by the sculptors themselves - the traces of tool marks, the carving of specific details, and the compositional formulas of the friezes.

Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans

Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans PDF Author: John R. Clarke
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520248155
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
"Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans is superbly out of the ordinary. John Clarke's significant and intriguing book takes stock of a half-century of lively discourse on the art and culture of Rome's non-elite patrons and viewers. Its compelling case studies on religion, work, spectacle, humor, and burial in the monuments of Pompeii and Ostia, which attempt to revise the theory of trickle-down Roman art, effectively refine our understanding of Rome's pluralistic society. Ordinary Romans-whether defined in imperialistic monuments or narrating their own stories through art in houses, shops, and tombs-come to life in this stimulating work."—Diana E. E. Kleiner, author of Roman Sculpture "John R. Clarke again addresses the neglected underside of Roman art in this original, perceptive analysis of ordinary people as spectators, consumers, and patrons of art in the public and private spheres of their lives. Clarke expands the boundaries of Roman art, stressing the defining power of context in establishing Roman ways of seeing art. And by challenging the dominance of the Roman elite in image-making, he demonstrates the constitutive importance of the ordinary viewing public in shaping Roman visual imagery as an instrument of self-realization."—Richard Brilliant, author of Commentaries on Roman Art, Visual Narratives, and Gesture and Rank in Roman Art "John Clarke reveals compelling details of the tastes, beliefs, and biases that shaped ordinary Romans' encounters with works of art-both public monuments and private art they themselves produced or commissioned. The author discusses an impressively wide range of material as he uses issues of patronage and archaeological context to reconstruct how workers, women, and slaves would have experienced works as diverse as the Ara Pacis of Augustus, funerary decoration, and tavern paintings at Pompeii. Clarke's new perspective yields countless valuable insights about even the most familiar material."—Anthony Corbeill, author of Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome "How did ordinary Romans view official paintings glorifying emperors? What did they intend to convey about themselves when they commissioned art? And how did they use imagery in their own tombstones and houses? These are among the questions John R. Clarke answers in his fascinating new book. Charting a new approach to people's art, Clarke investigates individual images for their functional connections and contexts, broadening our understanding of the images themselves and of the life and culture of ordinary Romans. This original and vital book will appeal to everyone who is interested in the visual arts; moreover, specialists will find in it a wealth of stimulating ideas for further study."—Paul Zanker, author of The Mask of Socrates: The Image of the Intellectual in Antiquity

On Art in the Ancient Near East

On Art in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Irene Winter
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004172378
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 657

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Book Description
This volume of Collected Essays brings together for the first time the range of Winter's pioneering studies related to Neo-Assyrian relief sculpture and seals, Phoeician and Syrian ivory and bronze production, and inter-polity connections across the various cultures of first millennium B.C.E. from the Aegean to Iran. Consistent threads are an emphasis on the potential for art historical analysis to yield 'history' in the broadest sense; the importance of making the theoretical frame of interpretation explicit; and the necessity of textual evidence being brought to bear on upon elements of formal analysis and archaeological context.

The Toga and Roman Identity

The Toga and Roman Identity PDF Author: Ursula Rothe
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472571568
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
This book traces the toga's history from its origins in the Etruscan garment known as the tebenna, through its use as an everyday garment in the Republican period to its increasingly exclusive role as a symbol of privilege in the Principate and its decline in use in late antiquity. It aims to shift the scholarly view of the toga from one dominated by its role as a feature of Roman art to one in which it is seen as an everyday object and a highly charged symbol that in its various forms was central to the definition and negotiation of important gender, age and status boundaries, as well as political stances and ideologies. It discusses the toga's significance not just in Rome itself, but also in the provinces, where it reveals ideas about cultural identity, status and the role of the Roman state. The Toga and Roman Identity shows that, by looking in detail at the history of Rome's national garment, we can gain a better understanding of the complexities of Roman identity for different groups in society, as well as what it meant, at any given time, to be 'Roman'.

Rome: A Sourcebook on the Ancient City

Rome: A Sourcebook on the Ancient City PDF Author: Fanny Dolansky
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567310310
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
The ancient city of Rome was the site of daily activities as well as famous historical events. It was not merely a backdrop, but rather an active part of the experiences of its inhabitants, shaping their actions and infusing them with meaning. During each period in Rome's imperial history, her emperors also used the city as a canvas to be painted on, transforming it according to their own ideals or ambitions. Rather than being organized by sites or monuments, Rome: A Sourcebook on the Ancient City is divided into thematic chapters. At the intersection of topography and socio-cultural history, this volume examines the cultural and social significance of the sites of ancient Rome from the end of the Republic in the age of Cicero and Julius Caesar, to the end of the fourth century. Drawing on literary and historical sources, this is not simply a tour of the baths and taverns, the amphitheatres and temples of ancient Rome, but rather a journey through the city that is fully integrated with Roman society.

Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age

Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age PDF Author: Jonathan Bardill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521764238
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
"Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. The book explores the emperor's image as conveyed through literature, art, and architecture, and shows how Constantine reconciled the tradition of imperial divinity with his monotheistic faith. It demonstrates how the traditional themes and imagery of kingship were exploited to portray the emperor as the saviour of his people and to assimilate him to Christ. This is the first book to study simultaneously both archaeological and historical information to build a picture of the emperor's image and propaganda. It is extensively illustrated" --Provided by publisher.

The Primacy of Vision in Virgil's Aeneid

The Primacy of Vision in Virgil's Aeneid PDF Author: Riggs Alden Smith
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292756208
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
One of the masterpieces of Latin and, indeed, world literature, Virgil's Aeneid was written during the Augustan "renaissance" of architecture, art, and literature that redefined the Roman world in the early years of the empire. This period was marked by a transition from the use of rhetoric as a means of public persuasion to the use of images to display imperial power. Taking a fresh approach to Virgil's epic poem, Riggs Alden Smith argues that the Aeneid fundamentally participates in the Augustan shift from rhetoric to imagery because it gives primacy to vision over speech as the principal means of gathering and conveying information as it recounts the heroic adventures of Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome. Working from the theories of French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Smith characterizes Aeneas as a voyant-visible, a person who both sees and is seen and who approaches the world through the faculty of vision. Engaging in close readings of key episodes throughout the poem, Smith shows how Aeneas repeatedly acts on what he sees rather than what he hears. Smith views Aeneas' final act of slaying Turnus, a character associated with the power of oratory, as the victory of vision over rhetoric, a triumph that reflects the ascendancy of visual symbols within Augustan society. Smith's new interpretation of the predominance of vision in the Aeneid makes it plain that Virgil's epic contributes to a new visual culture and a new mythology of Imperial Rome.

Mary of Mercy in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Art

Mary of Mercy in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Art PDF Author: KatherineT. Brown
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351559060
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Mater Misericordiae?Mother of Mercy?emerged as one of the most prolific subjects in central Italian art from the late thirteenth through the sixteenth centuries. With iconographic origins in Marian cult relics brought from Palestine to Constantinople in the fifth century, the amalgam of attributes coalesced in Armenian Cilicia then morphed as it spread to Cyprus. An early concept of Mary of Mercy?the Virgin standing with outstretched arms and a wide mantle under which kneel or stand devotees?entered the Italian peninsula at the ports of Bari and Venice during the Crusades, eventually converging in central Italy. The mendicant orders adopted the image as an easily recognizable symbol for mercy and aided in its diffusion. In this study, the author?s primary goals are to explore the iconographic origins of the Madonna della Misericordia as a devotional image by identifying and analyzing key attributes; to consider circumstances for its eventual overlapping function as a secular symbol used by lay confraternities; and to discuss its diaspora throughout the Italian peninsula, Western Europe, and eastward into Russia and Ukraine. With over 100 illustrations, the book presents an array of works of art as examples, including altarpieces, frescoes, oil paintings, manuscript illuminations, metallurgy, glazed terracotta, stained glass, architectural relief sculpture, and processional banners.

Libertas and Res Publica in the Roman Republic

Libertas and Res Publica in the Roman Republic PDF Author: Catalina Balmaceda
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004441697
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Libertas and Res Publica examines two key concepts of Western political thinking: freedom and republic. Contributors address important new questions on the principles of, and essential connection between res publica and libertas in Roman thought and Republican history.