Looking At Greek And Roman Sculpture In Stone

What is a an anthemion? What is giallo antico marble? Who was Praxiteles? This richly illustrated book -- in the popular Looking At series -- presents definitions and descriptions of these and many other terms relating to Greek and Roman sculpture encountered in museum exhibitions and publications on ancient stone sculpture. This is an indispensable guide to anyone looking for greater understanding of ancient sculpture and heightened enjoyment of the objects. Book jacket.

"Light on Stone offers a visit to the new Greek Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since 1999 the Museum's collection of Classical marble sculpture has literally appeared in a new light. The galleries featuring Greek art of the sixth, fifth, and fourth centuries B.C. have been renovated and reinstalled in a way that allows daylight to pour in through high windows and a clear skylight onto the marble statues and reliefs. Ever-shifting shadows and highlights appear to transform and animate these works. The photographs in this book attempt to capture some of those effects, showing statues in different kinds of light, in context with other works, and in close-up detail. An introductory essay and extended notes on each work of art give background information. The photography is by Joseph Coscia, Jr., Associate Chief Photographer in the Museum's Photograph Studio. The text is by Elizabeth J. Milleker, Associate Curator in the Department of Greek and Roman Art."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Portrait sculptures are among the most vibrant records of ancient Greek and Roman culture. They represent people of all ages and social strata: revered poets and philosophers, emperors and their family members, military heroes, local dignitaries, ordinary citizens, and young children. The Met's distinguished collection of Greek and Roman portraits in stone and bronze is published in its entirety for the first time in this volume. Paul Zanker, a leading authority on Roman sculpture today, has brought his exceptional knowledge to the study of these portraits; in presenting them, he brings the ancient world to life for contemporary audiences. Each work is lavishly illustrated, meticulously described, and placed in its historical and cultural context. The lives and achievement of significant figures are discussed in the framework of the political, social, and practical circumstances that influenced their portrait's forms and styles—from the unvarnished realism of the late Republican period to the idealizing and progressively abstract tendencies that followed. Analyses of marble portraits recarved into new likenesses after their original subjects were forgotten or officially repudiated provide especially compelling insights. Observations on fashions in hairstyling, which typically originated with the Imperial family and spread as fast as the rulers' latest portraits could be distributed, not only edify and amuse but also link the Romans' motives and appetite for imitation to our own. More than a collection catalogue, Roman Portraits is a thorough and multifaceted survey of ancient portraiture. Charting the evolution of this art from its origins in ancient Greece, it renews our appreciation of an connection to these imposing, timeless works.

A landmark volume on the uses and reuses of statuary in late antiquity.

The first study of a crucial aspect of Roman stone sculpture, exploring the functions and aesthetics of non-figural supports.

This first complete published catalogue of one of the most important classical sculpture collections in the United States includes 154 works from Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Asia Minor, North Africa, Roman Syria and Palestine, Egypt, and Babylonia, ranging in date from the late seventh century B.C. to the fourth century A.D. Each piece receives a complete description with measurements and report of condition, a list of the previous published sources, and a commentary reflecting the most recent scholarship, along with extensive photographic documentation. Various audiences will appreciate the accessibility of the scholarship presented here—students may engage in further study on some of topics raised by individual pieces or groups of sculptures, and the scholarly community will welcome a work that provides an up-to-date and comprehensive examination of a significant classical sculpture collection in one of the world's great archaeology museums.