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"This is a stimulating book and should be compulsory reading for all students of Roman art."—-Classical Review
"For all the authors, attention to the ensemble, a sense of the relation between the formal and the iconographic, and the desire to historicize their material contribute to making this anthology unusual in its rigorous and creative attention to the way that art and architecture participate in the construction of the image of the Roman elite."—-Art Bulletin
Roman Art in the Private Sphere presents an impressive case for the social and art historical importance of the paintings, mosaics, and sculptures that filled the private houses of the Roman elite. The six essays in this volume range from the first century B.C.E. to the fourth century C.E., and from the Italian peninsula to the Eastern Empire and North African provinces.
The essays treat works of art that belonged to every major Roman housing type: the single-family atrium houses and the insula apartment blocks in Italian cities, the dramatically sited villas of the Campanian coast and countryside, and the palatial mansions of late antique provincial aristocrats.
In a complementary fashion the essays consider domestic art in relation to questions of decorum, status, wealth, social privilege, and obligation. Patrons emerge as actively interested in the character of their surroundings; artists appear as responsive to the desire of their patrons. The evidence in private art of homosexual conduct in high society is also set forth.
Originality of subject matter, sophisticated appreciation of stylistic and compositional nuance, and philosophical perceptions of the relationship of humanity and nature are among the themes that the essays explore. Together they demonstrate that Roman domestic art must be viewed on its own terms.
Elaine K. Gazda is Professor of the History of Art and Curator of Hellenistic and Roman Antiquities at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan.
Domestic Art and the Instability of Cultural Meaning: Roman Art in the Private Sphere Revisited Elaine K. Gazda xi
Introduction Elaine K. Gazda 1
1 The Pompeian Atrium House in Theory and in Practice Eugene Dwyer 25
2 Painted Perspectives of Villa Visit: Landscape as Status and Metaphor Bettina Bergmann 49
3 Sculptural Collecting and Display in the Private Realm Elizabeth Bartman 71
4 The Decor of the House of Jupiter and Ganymede at Ostia Antica: Private Residence Turned Gay Hotel? John R. Clarke 89
5 Signs of Privilege and Pleasure: Roman Domestic Mosaics Christine Kondoleon 105
6 Power, Architecture, and Decor: How the Late Roman Aristocrat Appeared to His Guests Simon P. Ellis 117
List of Illustrations 135
Sources of Illustrations 139
A Note on Abbreviations 143
Select Bibliography 145
Plates 157
Overview
"This is a stimulating book and should be compulsory reading for all students of Roman art."—-Classical Review
"For all the authors, attention to the ensemble, a sense of the relation between the formal and the iconographic, and the desire to historicize their material contribute to making this anthology unusual in its rigorous and creative attention to the way that art and architecture participate in the construction of the image of the ...