The language of images in Roman art
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The language of images in Roman art
Cambridge University Press, 2004
- : pbk
- Other Title
-
Römische Bildsprache als semantisches System
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Note
Translated from the German
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book, first published in 2004, develops a theory for the understanding of Roman pictorial art. By treating Roman art as a semantic system it establishes a connection between artistic forms and the ideological messages contained within. The history of Roman art traditionally followed the model of a sequence of stylistic phases affecting the works of their era in the manner of a uniform Zeitgeist. By contrast, the author shows different stylistic forms being used for different themes and messages. The reception of Greek models, a key phenomenon of Roman art, thus appear in a new light. The formulations of specific messages are established from Greek art types of different eras serving to express Roman ideological values: classical forms for the grandeur of the state, Hellenistic forms for the struggling effort of warfare. In this way a conceptual and comprehensible pictorial language arose, uniting the multicultural population of the Roman state.
Table of Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- 1. Introduction
- 2. The Greek paradigm: example for lifestyle, academic subject, or building block of imperial culture?
- 3. The monuments: questions, categories, theses
- 4. Battle-scenes: the tradition of Hellenistic pathos
- 5. Battle-scenes: their reception in Rome
- 6. State ceremonial: the tradition of Classical dignity
- 7. The semantic system: the elements and their use
- 8. The semantic system: premises and structure
- 9. The origins of the system: dynamics and statics
- 10. Language of imagery and style
- 11. Formal system and style in the theory of rhetoric and of imagery
- 12. Conclusion: language of imagery and culture of empire
- Bibliography, supplementary bibliography.
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