Classical Art: From Greece to Rome (Oxford History of Art)
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"This is no conventional book on Classical Art, but a critique of Greek art through Roman eyes, analyzing the complexity of the Romans' reception of Greek pictorial and sculptural 'masterpieces, ' most of which are only known today through their Roman versions."--Richard Brilliant, Columbia University
"Innovative, challenging, and never dull, this is a bracing departure from the norm. Readers will welcome its strong thesis and trenchant refusal to take received wisdom on trust."--Andrew Stewart, University of California, Berkeley
Product Description
The stunning masterpieces of Ancient Greece and Rome are fundamental to the story of art in Western culture and to the origins of art history. The expanding Greek world of Alexander the Great had an enormous impact on the Mediterranean superpower of Rome. Generals, rulers, and artists seized, imitated, and re-thought the stunning legacy of Greek painting and sculpture, culminating in the greatest art-collector the world had ever seen, the Roman emperor, Hadrian. This exciting new look at Classical art starts with the excavation of the buried city of Pompeii, and investigates the grandiose monuments of ancient tyrants, and the sensual beauty of Apollo and Venus. Concluding with that most influential invention of all, the human portrait, it highlights the re-discovery of Classical art in the modern world, from the treasure hunts of Renaissance Rome to scientific retrieval in the twenty-first century.
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Archaeology's greatest moment ever was the discovery of the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried beneath the volcanic debris of Vesuvius in 79 CE (Maps and Plans 2). Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Archaeology's greatest moment ever was the discovery of the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried beneath the volcanic debris of Vesuvius in 79 CE (Maps and Plans 2). Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A highly entertaining and thought provoking book that will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in classical art. This book is full of excellent illustrations and is good value for money. It explodes many myths such as being able to precisely identify works and ascribe them to artists named in classical texts. Often experts disagree on dates for statues by hundreds of years. The identification of the Laocoon with a work described in Pliny is a key example. We want it to be true but what's the evidence?
Another key theme is the importance of copying in the ancient world. A Roman workshop has been found with plaster casts of masterworks. Obviously there was big business in churning out copies of `greatest hits' for the villas of the empire. In the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum 51 bronze and 24 marble satues were found! Often we can find parallel statues where a similar pose of a figure from mythology is used, but each one has its variation on the theme. Because of this it's often impossible to tell whether we are dealing a faithful copy of an original work by Praxiteles for instance, or a Roman variation.
In a lot of ways we see the Greeks through Roman eyes. In fact experts often disagree on whether some works are Greek originals or Roman copies.
Other key topics explored are the ancient arts connections to power, status and sex.
The opening chapter on painting is particularly good. A Greek epigram on a painting by Timomachus of Medea shows how sophisticated the ancient response to art could be. Most of the chapter focuses on Pompeii as this is where most of the surviving painting comes from. But as a relatively insignificant provincial town, how typical were these works and would the best of them be as good works in Rome for instance?
Overall I highly recommend this thought provoking book.
Another key theme is the importance of copying in the ancient world. A Roman workshop has been found with plaster casts of masterworks. Obviously there was big business in churning out copies of `greatest hits' for the villas of the empire. In the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum 51 bronze and 24 marble satues were found! Often we can find parallel statues where a similar pose of a figure from mythology is used, but each one has its variation on the theme. Because of this it's often impossible to tell whether we are dealing a faithful copy of an original work by Praxiteles for instance, or a Roman variation.
In a lot of ways we see the Greeks through Roman eyes. In fact experts often disagree on whether some works are Greek originals or Roman copies.
Other key topics explored are the ancient arts connections to power, status and sex.
The opening chapter on painting is particularly good. A Greek epigram on a painting by Timomachus of Medea shows how sophisticated the ancient response to art could be. Most of the chapter focuses on Pompeii as this is where most of the surviving painting comes from. But as a relatively insignificant provincial town, how typical were these works and would the best of them be as good works in Rome for instance?
Overall I highly recommend this thought provoking book.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Kindle edition of Beard and Henderson is a serious disappointment. One is paying the same as for the paper book, but with black and white illustrations only. This is a serious loss in a textbook of art. Perhaps users of b+w Kindle machines will not miss the colour, but those Kindle customers using colour devices - iPads or laptops - will be seriously disappointed. And I must say that no other Kindle book that I have whose paper original has colour illustrations has been given this black-and-white treatment. There is no mention that this Kindle edition is in black and white. I feel ripped off. Especially as the book itself is particularly good.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a really excellent book which is ideal for my Open University Course Myths in the Greek and Roman Worlds.
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