"The ancient Greeks developed their own very specific ethos of art appreciation, advocating a rational involvement with art. This book explores why the ancient Greeks started to write art history and how the writing of art history transformed the social functions of art in the Greek world. It looks at the invention of the genre of portraiture, and the social uses to which portraits were put in the city state. Later chapters explore how artists sought to enhance their status by writing theoretical treatises and producing works of art intended for purely aesthetic contemplation which ultimately gave rise to the writing of art history and to the development of art collecting. The study, which is illustrated throughout and which draws on contemporary perspectives in the sociology of art, will prompt the student of classical art to rethink fundamental assumptions on Greek art and its cultural and social implications."--BOOK JACKET.
Offering a unique blend of thematic and chronological investigation, this highly illustrated, engaging text explores the rich historical, cultural, and social contexts of 3,000 years of Greek art, from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period. Uniquely intersperses chapters devoted to major periods of Greek art from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period, with chapters containing discussions of important contextual themes across all of the periods Contextual chapters illustrate how a range of factors, such as the urban environment, gender, markets, and cross-cultural contact, influenced the development of art Chronological chapters survey the appearance and development of key artistic genres and explore how artifacts and architecture of the time reflect these styles Offers a variety of engaging and informative pedagogical features to help students navigate the subject, such as timelines, theme-based textboxes, key terms defined in margins, and further readings. Information is presented clearly and contextualized so that it is accessible to students regardless of their prior level of knowledge A book companion website is available at www.wiley.gom/go/greekart with the following resources: PowerPoint slides, glossary, and timeline
Divides the ancient world into three broad climatic categories to offer insight into the way artists addressed key environmental challenges, in a lavishly illustrated and captioned reference that includes coverage of each global region and religion.
In 'A History of Art in Ancient Egypt,' Volumes 1 and 2, Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez undertake an ambitious exploration of the aesthetic and cultural riches of ancient Egyptian civilization. Through their exhaustive examination, they present a nuanced tapestry of the artistic achievements that shaped one of history's most enduring societies. The collection distinguishes itself by the diversity of its content, ranging from architecture, sculpture, and painting, to the lesser-known realms of decorative arts. It is a significant compilation that not only highlights landmark monuments but also delves into the symbolism and functionality that underpinned Egyptian art, offering readers an intricate understanding of its historical and cultural context. The collaboration between Perrot, an esteemed archaeologist, and Chipiez, an architectural historian, brings a profound depth of scholarly expertise to the work. Their backgrounds allow for a comprehensive analysis that bridges art with its societal functions, aligning the collection with broader academic discussions on ancient civilizations and their expressions of identity, power, and religiosity. This synthesis of perspectives complements the overarching theme by providing a multifaceted exploration of how material culture reflects societal values and historical changes. This anthology is recommended for readers seeking to immerse themselves in the rich tapestry of ancient Egyptian art and society. The meticulous research and broad scope of 'A History of Art in Ancient Egypt' offer a unique educational opportunity, inviting a contemplative engagement with the artifacts that have shaped our understanding of ancient Egypt. For scholars and enthusiasts alike, this collection serves as both a comprehensive reference and a source of inspiration, fostering a deeper appreciation for the nuances and complexities of ancient artistic endeavors.
Visual culture was an essential part of ancient social, religious, and political life. Appearance and experience of beings and things was of paramount importance. In Visual Power in Ancient Greece and Rome, Tonio Hölscher explores the fundamental phenomena of Greek and Roman visual culture and their enormous impact on the ancient world, considering memory over time, personal appearance, conceptualization and representation of reality, and significant decoration as fundamental categories of art as well as of social practice. With an emphasis on public spaces such as sanctuaries, agora and forum, Hölscher investigates the ways in which these spaces were used, viewed, and experienced in religious rituals, political manifestations, and social interaction.
The successful interpretation of the ancient writings of Egypt, Chaldæa, and Persia, which has distinguished our times, makes it necessary that the history of antiquity should be rewritten. Documents that for thousands of years lay hidden beneath the soil, and inscriptions which, like those of Egypt and Persia, long offered themselves to the gaze of man merely to excite his impotent curiosity, have now been deciphered and made to render up their secrets for the guidance of the historian. By the help of those strings of hieroglyphs and of cuneiform characters, illustrated by paintings and sculptured reliefs, we are enabled to separate the truth from the falsehood, the chaff from the wheat, in the narratives of the Greek writers who busied themselves with those nations of Africa and Asia which preceded their own in the ways of civilization. Day by day, as new monuments have been discovered and more certain methods of reading their inscriptions elaborated, we have added to the knowledge left us by Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, to our acquaintance with those empires on the Euphrates and the Nile which were already in old age when the Greeks were yet struggling to emerge from their primitive barbarism. Even in the cases of Greece and Rome, whose histories are supplied in their main lines by their classic writers, the study of hitherto neglected writings discloses many new and curious details. The energetic search for ancient inscriptions, and the scrupulous and ingenious interpretation of their meaning, which we have witnessed and are witnessing, have revealed to us many interesting facts of which no trace is to be found in Thucydides or Xenophon, in Livy or Tacitus; enabling us to enrich with more than one feature the picture of private and public life which they have handed down to us. In the effort to embrace the life of ancient times as a whole, many attempts have been made to fix the exact place in it occupied by art, but those attempts have never been absolutely successful, because the comprehension of works of art, of plastic creations in the widest significance of that word, demands an amount of special knowledge which the great majority of historians are without; art has a method and language of its own, which obliges those who wish to learn it thoroughly to cultivate their taste by frequenting the principal museums of Europe, by visiting distant regions at the cost of considerable trouble and expense, by perpetual reference to the great collections of engravings, photographs, and other reproductions which considerations of space and cost prevent the savant from possessing at home. More than one learned author has never visited Italy or Greece, or has found no time to examine their museums, each of which contains but a small portion of the accumulated remains of antique art. Some connoisseurs do not even live in a capital, but dwell far from those public libraries, which often contain valuable collections, and sometimes—when they are not packed away in cellars or at the binder's—allow them to be studied by the curious.[2] The study of art, difficult enough in itself, is thus rendered still more arduous by the obstacles which are thrown in its way. The difficulty of obtaining materials for self-improvement in this direction affords the true explanation of the absence, in modern histories of antiquity, of those laborious researches which have led to such great results since Winckelmann founded the science of archæology as we know it. To be continue in this ebook...
