Art and Rhetoric in Roman Culture (Hardcover)

Jas Elsner

ISBN 10: 1107000718 / ISBN 13: 9781107000711

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2014

Hardcover. Rhetoric was fundamental to education and to cultural aspiration in the Greek and Roman worlds. It was one of the key aspects of antiquity that slipped under the line between the ancient world and Christianity erected by the early Church in late antiquity. Ancient rhetorical theory is obsessed with examples and discussions drawn from visual material. This book mines this rich seam of theoretical analysis from within Roman culture to present an internalist model for some aspects of how the Romans understood, made and appreciated their art. The understanding of public monuments like the Arch of Titus or Trajan's Column or of imperial statuary, domestic wall painting, funerary altars and sarcophagi, as well as of intimate items like children's dolls, is greatly enriched by being placed in relevant rhetorical contexts created by the Roman world. Rhetoric was fundamental to education and to cultural aspiration in the Greek and Roman worlds. This collection of essays presents a large arena of responses and theoretical formulations about Roman visual culture within the literature of ancient rhetoric that has been significantly neglected in normative art history and Classical archaeology. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781107000711

Synopsis:

Demonstrates the central significance of rhetoric in ancient responses to and receptions of Roman art.

About the Authors: Jaś Elsner is Humfry Payne Senior Research Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Visiting Professor of Art History at the University of Chicago and Senior Research Keeper at the British Museum. His publications include numerous articles and books including Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph: The Art of the Roman Empire AD 100–450 (1998) and Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text (2007).

Michel Meyer is Professor of Rhetoric, Philosophy and Aesthetics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He has published many works of philosophy, covering literary criticism, rhetoric, the passions, art, theatre and Roman art. Several of his works have appeared in English. He is known to be the father of a new philosophy based on the priority of questioning in thought, called problematology. Recent books include Rome et la naissance de l'art européen (2006) and Principia Rhetorica (2008).

Bibliographic Details

Title: Art and Rhetoric in Roman Culture (Hardcover)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Publication Date: 2014
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: new