Description
Book SynopsisThis 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).
Table of Contents1 Introduction Anne Hrychuk Kontokosta and Peter D. De Staebler
2 The Statues on the Propylon of the Sebasteion Complex at Aphrodisias: "Grounding" and the Interpretation of Archaeological Context Julia Lenaghan
3 Grounding the Ny Carlsberg Vespasian: Analysis and Alternatives Steven L. Tuck
4 The Bronze Captive in the Rhone River and Roman Art History Kimberly Cassibry
5 The Sleeping Hermaphrodite: Reception and Interpretation in Three Eras Elizabeth McGowan
6 The "Lansdowne Homer": A Neo-Attic Relief Depicting the Seer Calchas Grounded in Ancient and Modern Collections Kenneth Lapatin
7 Provenance, Historic Restorations, and the "Perseus Triumphant" Statue Type: An Overlooked Group of Heroic Hunter Portrait Statues from Imperial Rome Mark B. Abbe
8 Investigating the Ungrounded: The Paired Portrait Busts of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna in the Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University Julie Van Voorhis and Mark B. Abbe
9 The Farnese Hercules and Hercules within Roman Baths Maryl B. Gensheimer
10 Body/Culture: Display and Reception of the Farnese Hercules Marice Rose
11 Roman Sarcophagi in Context from the Catacomb of Praetextatus Sarah Madole Lewis
12 Lions at the Door: Ancient Context, Reuse, and Recreation on Italian Romanesque Facades Steve Burges
13 Eros and the Army (Constantinople and Context) Benjamin Anderson
14 Virtual Context for Roman Sculpture Sebastian Heath
15 Further Reflections on Groundedness Elizabeth Marlowe
Contributors
