The Freedman in Roman Art and Art History

In this study, Lauren Petersen critically investigates the notion of 'freedman art' in scholarship.

Lauren Hackworth Petersen (Author)

9781107603592, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 September 2011

312 pages, 140 b/w illus. 8 colour illus.
25.4 x 17.8 x 1.3 cm, 0.66 kg

Review of the hardback: 'Hackworth Petersen's book is a welcome fresh look at freedmen, their status and how they projected themselves in Roman society. It is also a welcome deconstruction of a stereotype created by modern scholarship, which affects interpretations of many kinds of evidence.' Arctos

From monumental tombs and domestic decoration, to acts of benefaction and portraits of ancestors, Roman freed slaves, or freedmen, were prodigious patrons of art and architecture. Traditionally, however, the history of Roman art has been told primarily through the monumental remains of the emperors and ancient writers who worked in their circles. In this study, Lauren Petersen critically investigates the notion of 'freedman art' in scholarship, dependent as it is on elite-authored texts that are filled with hyperbole and stereotypes of freedmen, such as the memorable fictional character Trimalchio, a boorish ex-slave in Petronius' Satyricon. She emphasizes integrated visual ensembles within defined historical and social contexts and aims to show how material culture can reflect preoccupations that were prevalent throughout Roman society. Interdisciplinary in scope, this book explores the many ways that monuments and artistic commissions by freedmen spoke to a much more complex reality than that presented in literature.

Introduction: the Roman freedman, 'freedman art', and Trimalchio
Public life and assimilation
1. Rebuilding Pompeii: the Popidius family and the Temple of Isis
2. The visibility of the Augustales in Pompeii
3. Memory-making in the funerary realm: the tomb of the baker in Rome
Social integration: domus and family
4. 'Freedman taste' in domus decoration
5. To claim a domus: the house of the Caecilii at Pompeii
6. Family and community at the Isola Sacra Necropolis: the Tomb of the Varii.

Subject Areas: Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE [ACG]