The Language of Images in Roman Art

This book, first published in 2004, develops a theoretical concept for understanding the Roman art of images.

Tonio Hölscher (Author), Anthony Snodgrass (Translated by), Annemarie Künzl-Snodgrass (Translated by), Jas Elsner (Foreword by)

9780521662000, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 November 2004

188 pages, 52 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.45 kg

'… reaches to the heart of our understanding of Roman art, addressing its dependence upon and manipulation of Greek artistic forms. … for a short work this book is full of insights, ideas, and provocations.' Journal of Roman Studies

This book, first published in 2004, develops a theory for the understanding of Roman pictorial art. By treating Roman art as a semantic system it establishes a connection between artistic forms and the ideological messages contained within. The history of Roman art traditionally followed the model of a sequence of stylistic phases affecting the works of their era in the manner of a uniform Zeitgeist. By contrast, the author shows different stylistic forms being used for different themes and messages. The reception of Greek models, a key phenomenon of Roman art, thus appear in a new light. The formulations of specific messages are established from Greek art types of different eras serving to express Roman ideological values: classical forms for the grandeur of the state, Hellenistic forms for the struggling effort of warfare. In this way a conceptual and comprehensible pictorial language arose, uniting the multicultural population of the Roman state.

Foreword
Preface
1. Introduction
2. The Greek paradigm: example for lifestyle, academic subject, or building block of imperial culture?
3. The monuments: questions, categories, theses
4. Battle-scenes: the tradition of Hellenistic pathos
5. Battle-scenes: their reception in Rome
6. State ceremonial: the tradition of Classical dignity
7. The semantic system: the elements and their use
8. The semantic system: premises and structure
9. The origins of the system: dynamics and statics
10. Language of imagery and style
11. Formal system and style in the theory of rhetoric and of imagery
12. Conclusion: language of imagery and culture of empire
Bibliography, supplementary bibliography.

Subject Areas: Architecture [AM], History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE [ACG]