The ancient art of transformation : case studies from Mediterranean contexts / edited by Renee M. Gondek and Carrie L. Sulosky Weaver.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gondek, Renee M., editor.

Sulosky Weaver, Carrie Lynn, editor.

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Visual communication.

History.

Mediterranean Region--Antiquities.

Mediterranean Region.

Antiquities.

Mediterranean Region--Civilization.

Civilization.

Art, Ancient.

Life cycle, Human, in art.

Visual communication--History--To 1500.

Visual communication--Mediterranean Region.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 224 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Edition:

Paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; Havertown, PA : Oxbow Books, 2019.

Summary:

"The Ancient Art of Transformation: Case Studies from Mediterranean Contexts examines instances of human transformation in the ancient and early Christian Mediterranean world by exploring the ways in which art impacts, aids, or provides evidence for physical, spiritual, personal, and social transitions. Building on Arnold van Gennep's notion of universal rites of passage, papers in this volume expand the definition of "transformation" to include widespread transitions such as shifts in political establishments and changes in cultural identity. In considering these broadly defined "passages," authors have observed particular changes in the visual record, whether they be manifest, enigmatic, or symbolic. While several papers address transitions that result in hybrid states, others suggest that the medium itself can be integral to interpreting a transition, and in some cases, be itself transformed. Together, the volume covers not only a broad chronological span (c. 6th century BC to 5th century AD), but also various regions across the Mediterranean (Egypt, Greece, and Italy). Reflecting upon issues central to a variety of Mediterranean cultures (Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, and early Christians), The Ancient Art of Transformation documents how personal, societal, and historical changes become permanently fixed in the material record."-- Cover.

Contents:

1. On the threshold of old age: perceptions of the elderly in Athenian red-figure vase-painting / Nicholas A. Harokopos

2. The transformation of the bride in Attic vase-painting / Victoria Sabetai

3. Transitory nudity: life changes in Etruscan art / Bridget Sandhoff

4. Cultural manoeuvring in the elite tombs of Ptolemaic Egypt / Sara E. Cole

5. Octavian transformed as pharaoh and as Emperor Augustus / Erin A. Peters

6. Ethnic identity, Social identity, and the aesthetics of sameness in the funerary monuments of Roman freedmen / Devon Stewart

7. Greater in death: the transformative effect of convivial iconography on Roman cineraria / Carrie L. Sulosky Weaver

8. A viewer walks into a tomb: transformation in the Cubiculum Leonis / Ethan Gannaway

9. Protoplasts and prophets: the stucco reliefs in the Orthodox Baptistery in Ravenna / Rachel Danford.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781789251043

1789251044

OCLC:

1079794143

Publisher Number:

99984225898