Synopses & Reviews
\[I\]Art and the Roman Viewer\[/I\] presents a fresh analysis of a major intellectual problem in the history of art: why did the arts of Late Antiquity move away from classical naturalism toward spiritual abstraction? Contrasting the sophisticated arts of the early empire--such as Pompeian painting--with the symbolic arts of the Christian empire--notably the mosaics of Ravenna--and addressing the subtleties inherent in ancient viewing, this study embarks on a quest to enrich our understanding of an era of profound artistic change.
Synopsis
Explores the shift in late Roman art from classical naturalism towards spiritual abstraction.
Synopsis
This book presents a fresh analysis of a major intellectual problem in the history of art: why did the arts of Late Antiquity move away from classical naturalism towards spiritual abstraction? By addressing the subtleties inherent in ancient viewing, this study enriches our understanding of an era of profound artistic change.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 288-309) and index.
Table of Contents
Part I. Ways of Viewing in the Roman World; 1. Viewing and the real: the Imagines of Philostratus and the Tabula of Cebes; 2. Viewing and society: images, the view, and the Roman house; 3. Viewing and the sacred: Pagan, Christian, and the vision of God; 4. Viewing and identity: the travels of Pausanias or a Greek pilgrim in the Roman World; Part II. The Transformation of Art from Augustus to Justinian; 5. Reflections on a Roman revolution: a transformation in the image and conception of the Emperor; 6. From the literal to the symbolic: a transformation in the nature of Roman religion and Roman religious art: Part III. Epilogue: Modulations of Change: 7. The truth within these empty figures: the genesis of Christian visual exegesis.