The art of the body : antiquity and its legacy / by Michael Squire.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Squire, Michael, author.

Series:

Ancients and moderns series.

Ancients and moderns

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art and society.

Art, Classical.

Civilization, Modern.

Human beings in art--Psychological aspects.

Human beings in art.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London : I.B. Tauris, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"The art of the human body is arguably the most important and wide-ranging legacy bequeathed to us by Classical antiquity. Not only has it directed the course of western image-making, it has shaped our collective cultural imaginary - as ideal, antitype, and point of departure. This book is the first concerted attempt to grapple with that legacy: it explores the complex relationship between Graeco-Roman images of the body and subsequent western engagements with them, from the Byzantine icon to Venice Beach (and back again). Instead of approaching his material chronologically, Michael Squire faces up to its inherent modernity. Writing in a lively and accessible style, and supplementing his text with a rich array of pictures, he shows how Graeco-Roman images inhabit our world as if they were our own. The Art of the Body offers a series of comparative and thematic accounts, demonstrating the range of cultural ideas and anxieties that were explored through the figure of the body both in antiquity and in the various cultural landscapes that came afterwards. If we only strip down our aesthetic investment in the corpus of Graeco-Roman imagery, Squire argues, this material can shed light on both ancient and modern thinking. The result is a stimulating process of mutual illumination - and an exhilarating new approach to Classical art history."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Embodying the classical

Figuring what comes naturally? Writing the 'art history' of the body

The ancient female nude (and other modern fictions)

Stripping down and undressing up

On gods made men made images.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613152220

9780755625239

0755625234

9781283152228

1283152223

9780857719317

0857719319

OCLC:

740448180