"This illustrated catalogue presents fifty-nine Greek funerary monuments in the Antiquities collection of the Getty Museum. Spanning the Classical and Hellenistic periods, the sculptures typically show the deceased either alone or surrounded by family. Ranging from depictions of seated mothers and modest maidens to nude boys and armed warriors, this collection offers new insight into Greek art and society that will undoubtedly pique the interest of both scholars and the general public."--BOOK JACKET.
This book charts a significant aspect of European heritage: cemeteries. Cemeteries are nowadays considered as formal cultural sites and open-air museums attracting a great number of visitors; while cemetery records, memorial monuments, epitaph inscriptions and symbols provide useful data, attracting the interest of an increasing number of scholars from various disciplines and backgrounds. This collective volume consists of selected papers, presented at the ASCE (Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe) Conference: “Ancient Greek Art and European Funerary Art” organized by the Harokopio University of Athens-Greece on October 5-7 2017, aiming to highlight various cultural aspects of cemeteries. The authors present funerary art and its classical origin, investigate theoretical and historical approaches, plan cultural and educational routes, design technological applications concerning the use of cemeteries as cultural sites, and propose multiple ways for promoting cemetery heritage and public engagement; while the majority of the papers is based on field and archival research and is accompanied by original images. The multicultural character of death heritage is highlighted through the variety of case-studies presented in this volume, introducing different perspectives and interpretations on art, history, heritage and cultural tourism, laying the groundwork for the public discussion on our common heritage as appeared in cemeteries, appealing to both the wider public and the academic community.
Funerary Sculpture is the first volume on sculpture from the Agora in over 50 years, bringing together all the sculpted funerary monuments of the Athenian Agora, Classical through Roman periods, which were discovered during excavation from 1931 through 2009. The wide chronological span allows the author to trace changes in funerary monuments, particularly the break in customs that took place in 317 B.C., and the revival of figured monuments in the Roman period. The study consists of three essays followed by a catalogue of 389 objects. The author places the Agora sculptural fragments within the greater context of Attic funerary sculpture, moving from a general to a specific treatment of the funerary sculpture. The first essay is an overview of the study of Attic types of sculpture; the second discusses the specific features of funerary sculpture from Athens and Attica; and the third examines the characteristics of the funerary sculptures found in the Agora, thereby forming an introduction to the catalogue that follows. The catalogue includes stelai and naiskoi with female and/or male figures, sirens, decorative anthemia, funerary vessels, lekythoi, loutrophoroi, animals, mensa, columnar monuments, and more. There are separate indexes of museums, names, demes, places, and findspots, as well as a general index.
This richly illustrated volume presents Greek funerary monuments from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s outstanding collection that offer insight into all facets of life in ancient Greece. In ancient Greece, funerary monuments were visual expressions of mourning that provided the opportunity for the living to commemorate and communicate with the dead. Today they offer a wealth of information about the deceased and the communities of which they were a part, for example, their status, material aspects of their lives, and how they wanted to be depicted. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of the finest collections of Greek funerary monuments outside of Greece. This richly illustrated volume, by renowned author Paul Zanker, presents more than 50 outstanding examples, created from the 7th to the 2nd century B.C., that represent a variety of media and geographical regions. Through their shared focus on memorializing the dead, these extraordinary works of art offer insights into all facets of life in ancient Greece.
A groundbreaking account of ancient Greek funerary sculpture and its emotional effects In this lyrically written and beautifully illustrated study, Seth Estrin probes the emotional effects of one of the largest and most important categories of Greek sculpture: the funerary monuments of Classical Athens. Instead of simply documenting experiences of bereavement, he demonstrates that funerary monuments played a vital role in giving grief visual and material presence, employing the subtle effects of relief sculpture to make private experiences of loss socially meaningful to others. By identifying the deaths they marked as worthy of grief, funerary monuments mobilized fundamental questions about sculptural form and pictorial recognition to political ends, instrumentalizing the emotional dimensions of sculpture as a means to construct and uphold social hierarchies. Grounded in careful study of numerous monuments, new readings of their accompanying epigrams and ancient literary sources, and close consideration of both ancient and modern theories of emotion, Grief Made Marble makes a landmark contribution not only to the study of Greek sculpture, but to our broader understanding of the relationship between art and emotion in antiquity.
For centuries, statuary décor was a main characteristic of any city, sanctuary, or villa in the Roman world. However, from the third century CE onward, the prevalence of statues across the Roman Empire declined dramatically. By the end of the sixth century, statues were no longer a defining characteristic of the imperial landscape. Further, changing religious practices cast pagan sculpture in a threatening light. Statuary production ceased, and extant statuary was either harvested for use in construction or abandoned in place. The Afterlife of Greek and Roman Sculpture is the first volume to approach systematically the antique destruction and reuse of statuary, investigating key responses to statuary across most regions of the Roman world. The volume opens with a discussion of the complexity of the archaeological record and a preliminary chronology of the fate of statues across both the eastern and western imperial landscape. Contributors to the volume address questions of definition, identification, and interpretation for particular treatments of statuary, including metal statuary and the systematic reuse of villa materials. They consider factors such as earthquake damage, late antique views on civic versus “private” uses of art, urban construction, and deeper causes underlying the end of the statuary habit, including a new explanation for the decline of imperial portraiture. The themes explored resonate with contemporary concerns related to urban decline, as evident in post-industrial cities, and the destruction of cultural heritage, such as in the Middle East.
The sculptural tradition developed by the ancient Greeks is justifiably considered one of the most remarkable achievements of Western art. This richly illustrated volume introduces eight centuries of Greek sculpture, from the early rectilinear designs of the Geometric period (ca. 900–700 B.C.) through the groundbreaking creativity of the Archaic and Classical periods to the dramatic monumental achievements of the Hellenistic Age (323–31 B.C.). A generous selection of objects and materials—ranging from the sacred to the everyday, from bronze and marble to gold, ivory, and terracotta—allows for an especially appealing picture not only of Greek art but also of life in ancient Greece. Sculptures of deities such as Zeus, Athena, and Eros and architectural elements from temples are included, as are depictions of athletes and animals (both domesticated and wild), statuettes of dancers and actors, funerary reliefs, perfume vases, and jewelry. The informative text provides a comprehensive introduction and insightful discussions of forty objects selected from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Full-page photographs of the featured works are supplemented by many illuminating details and comparative illustrations. The latest in The Met’s widely acclaimed How to Read series, this publication reveals how, more than two millennia ago, Greek artists brilliantly captured the fundamental aspects of the human condition.
The Handbook of Greek Sculpture aims to provide a detailed examination of current research and directions in the field. Bringing together an international cast of contributors from Greece, Italy, France, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, the volume incorporates new areas of research, such as the sculptures of Messene and Macedonia, sculpture in Roman Greece, and the contribution of Greek sculptors in Rome, as well as important aspects of Greek sculpture like techniques and patronage. The written sources (literary and epigraphical) are explored in dedicated chapters, as are function and iconography and the reception of Greek sculpture in modern Europe. Inspired by recent exhibitions on Lysippos and Praxiteles,the book also revisits the style and the personal contributions of the great masters.
