Selected Papers on Ancient Art and Architecture - Böcker

This volume presents a spectrum of current research on ancient surface decoration (painting mosaic, and stuccowork/plasterwork) that offers new avenues of exploration and directions of inquiry. The collected essays draw from a wide range of disciplinary frameworks and integrate material analysis, the study of technical characteristics, the investigation of literary and archaeological evidence, and the interpretation and reconstruction of iconographic programs. Geographically, the papers focus on paintings from the Mediterranean world, including examples from the Bronze Age Aegean, the Hellenistic Levant, and Roman Campania and Greece. Exciting work on Classical Maya paintings in Guatemala augment the case studies from the Mediterranean region and provide an important opportunity for cross-cultural comparisons of ancient artistic and cultural practices as well as modern analytical approaches. By offering a wide chronological and geographic panorama, this volumes expands existing research on ancient surface decoration and aims to secure a broad and variable foundation for continued work.

As published excavated contexts become more plentiful and as older contexts are reexamined, it has become increasingly possible to consider Greek figure-decorated pottery from the perspective of its use. The essays in this volume explore the relationship between image and use in different contexts, with an emphasis on the user and consumer-that is, they explore the possible meanings images had for the individuals who obtained the objects on which they appear. The essays pose questions concerning why a consumer might choose a particular pot, why it might be part of an assemblage, or why a particular set of pots might have moved in a particular direction. The contributors are Sheramy D. Bundrick, An Jiang, Kathleen M. Lynch, Bice Peruzzi, Vivi Sarapanidi, Tara Trahey, and Vicky Vlachou. 67 b&w illustrations, photographs and drawings.

The essays in this volume engage explicitly in a variety of theoretical and methodological strategies for the interpretation of dress, dressed bodies, and their representations in the ancient world. Authors draw from a wide range of disciplinary frameworks, integrating literary and archaeological evidence, experimental archaeology, social theory and the study of iconography. This volume spans a broad area both geographically and chronologically, bringing the ancient Near East into dialogue with the classical world from prehistory through late antiquity. The breadth and inclusivity of this volume provide a strong theoretical and methodological foundation for the collaborative study of the dynamic role of dressed bodies and images that depict them.

This volume is a timely exploration of many facets of collecting and collectors. It brings together sixteen papers originally presented in two colloquia and a workshop at the 2017 Annual Meeting in Toronto. Part 1, Collecting and Presenting the Etruscans in North America, focuses on a select number of collecting narratives that demonstrate how the art and material culture of a then little-known Italic culture made its way to the United States during the mid- to late 19th and early 20th centuries. Part 2, Satis sit una aliqua gemma: Collecting Classical Gem from Antiquity through the 19th Century, explores the significance that collecting antique gems acquired across time and space, as well the reasons why these objects remained highly valued and sought-after collectibles from antiquity to the modern era. Part 3, Researching Ownership Histories for Antiquities in Museum Collections, draws attention to discoveries that have been made through provenance research, and also to the challenges that shape the investigation of provenance.

The study of bronzes and other metals from the Athenian Acropolis traditionally has been overshadowed by the emphasis given to the famous monuments of architecture and sculpture, in part due to the incomplete publication of the metal small finds from the site following the major excavation campaigns in the 19th century. Without attempting to be a comprehensive synthesis on this topic, this volume positions itself against this tradition by resuscitating discussion on the Acropolis bronzes. The introduction reflects on the history of the relevant scholarship vis-à-vis the life of the Acropolis bronzes in various museums and collections in Greece and elsewhere. The six essays provide overviews, reinterpretations, and critical discussions as well as new methodological approaches to various aspects of the existing corpus. Diane Harris-Cline employs Actor-Network theory to showcase the intricate web of social relationships behind each gesture that resulted in the deposition of bronzes on the Acropolis. Andronike Makres and Adele Scafuro reflect on methodological quandaries and detail their efforts to produce a new critical edition of the corpus of inscriptions on dedicatory and other bronzes that takes into account the materiality of this epigraphic record. Amy Sowder Koch reviews the corpus of hydriai from the Acropolis, taking into account newly published examples, and situates them within the larger context of bronze hydriai, seeking to understand Athens' role in bronze hydria production. Germano Sarcone revisits technical and social aspects of the impressively monumental and technically complex tripod-cauldrons from the Acropolis from the eighth century BCE onwards. Nassos Papalexandrou discusses the corpus of griffin cauldrons arguing that their original lavishness added to the prestige of the sanctuary during a formative period of Athenian society. Elena Karakitsou publishes a fascinating inscribed phiale retrieved from the southwestern entablature of the Parthenon along with the remains of a rare ritual deposit.

From the gold of the shaft graves of Mycenae to an undecorated Late Roman lekythos, and from facade statuary in Roman Ephesus to electroplated teapots in present-day household assemblages on the island of Kythera, this volume presents a selection of essays on the complex and ever-progressing relationships between things and people across time and space. Past and present advances in the discourse on materialisms are approached from a case study perspective through the lens of two different but complementary themes: object biography and materiality in relation to medium. Each essay offers a distinct insight into the always shifting meanings, values, and relational connections of things, exploring a diversity of concepts, contexts, and material elements from prehistory to today.

Temples decorated with brightly coloured terracotta sculpture and tombs frescoed with carefully chosen imagery were sites of heightened encounter in early Italy. These places were points of connection between the mortal realm and the worlds of the gods and of the dead. Artworks that adorned sacred buildings and funerary spaces amplified such confrontations, structuring ancient emotional responses. This volume reconstructs the crafting of encounters and the ways that such encounters were experienced, seeking to glimpse how the inhabitants of early Italy saw the images that filled their world.The contributors are Allia Benner, Fabio Colivicchi, Sophie Crawford-Brown, Nancy deGrummond, Alexander Ekserdjian, Maurizio Forte, Fay Glinister, Daniele Maras, Jacqueline Ortoleva, Corinna Riva, P. Gregory Warden, and Cristiana Zaccagnino.

This volume tackles a pressing issue in Roman art history: that many sculptures conventionally used in our scholarship and teaching lack adequate information about their find locations. Questions of context are complex, and any theoretical and methodological reframing of Roman sculpture demands academic transparency. This volume is dedicated to privileging content and context over traditions of style and aesthetics. Through case studies, the chapters illustrate multivariate ways to contextualize ancient objects. The authors encourage Roman art historians to look beyond conventional interpretations; to reclaim from the study of Greek sculpture the Roman originals that are too often relegated to discussions of "copies" and "models"; to consider the multiple, dynamic, and shifting contexts that one sculpture could experience over the centuries of its display; and to recognize that post-antique receptions can also offer insight into interpretations of ancient viewers. The collected topics were originally presented in three conference sessions: "Grounding Roman Sculpture" (Archaeological Institute of America, 2019); "Ancient Sculpture in Context" (College Art Association, 2017); and "Ancient Sculpture in Context II: Reception" (College Art Association, 2019).