The Tazza Farnese

The long and intricate history of the beautifully carved Hellenistic style Egyptian bowl, from the days of Cleopatra to Constantinople, the French Revolution, and to near destruction by a deranged museum guard in 1925.

The Tazza Farnese has inspired debate and controversy among scholars since its reappearance in late fifteenth century Renaissance Italy when Lorenzo de Medici acquired it from Pope Paul II; its provenance prior to 1471 is unknown. From the Medici it was passed on to the Farnese collection, from whence it derives its name, and finally to the Archaeological Museum in Naples where it is on display today. The large sardonyx cameo dish is decorated on the inside with a figural scene. The identities of the seven figures carved in the tondo, as well as the Tazza Farnese's meaning and date, have long been debated and a consensus heretofore has not been reached. In my thesis, I attempt to assign a more precise date for the Tazza Farnese and offer a new interpretation for the figures in the interior tondo. Through an examination of the material, the shape, and the gorgoneion imagery on the underside of the dish, three aspects which scholars have tended to neglect, I suggest that the Tazza Farnese was a product of the Augustan period, or the late first century BC. As a product of this era, the Tazza Farnese symbolizes the prosperity and abundance of the early Roman Empire; all of the figures allude to the fertility of the Pax Romana Augustae.

The largest carved hardstone cup to have survived from the ancient world has come down to us through the ages probably without ever becoming an archaeological find: its peregrinations took it from Alexandria to Rome and thence to Constantinople, before it returned to Rome in the fifteenth century, where it was bought by the sharp-eyed connoisseur Lorenzo de? Medici. It then joined the Farnese Collection, from where it reached the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.0The intriguing story of the cup?s vicissitudes as it passed from one glittering court to another is matched by the still not wholly resolved interpretation of the scene depicted on its inner face, which has been the subject of a number of different readings and continues to be a matter of debate. The work is a tour de force of the carver?s art, with the figures in the inner scene and the terrifying face of the Gorgon on the outside picked out with unerring skill, exploiting every shade of the sardonyx agate of which it is made.

This study examines the five extant large Imperial cameos of the Early Roman Empire as a coherent whole, revealing that these gemstones were a referential group with complex interrelationships. Power and Propaganda in the Large Imperial Cameos of the Early Roman Empire offers a feminist theory that explains why large Imperial cameos were in dialogue and why the medium appears with Octavian and disappears by the Flavian dynasty: female Imperial family members commissioned them to advance their husbands and sons. This volume is an introduction to large Imperial cameos and reveals their importance for the understanding of Roman art and iconography and the implications of its theorized Imperial female patronage. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, classics, and archaeology.

In contrast to other histories of ancient art that typically privilege well-preserved works of ceramics or stone, Luxus offers an integrated contextual analysis of artifacts fashioned from a wide variety of luxury materials, which survive in far greater number than is typically supposed. These include gold and silver, semiprecious hard stones, and organic materials, such as ivory, fine woods, amber, pearl, coral, and textiles. Examining some of the finest surviving examples of ancient craftsmanship, renowned expert Kenneth Lapatin approaches objects in these diverse media from a variety of viewpoints, providing a valuable model for a more pluralistic approach to visual culture with the greater goal of reinvigorating the study of ancient art and society. As its title implies, Luxus is richly illustrated, containing over 200 images of superb works located in collections throughout the world. Each plate is accompanied by extensive documentation and discursive commentary. An introductory chapter explores the ideologies and uses of the luxury arts in ancient Greece and Rome, considers ancient debates about their value, and traces their decline in modern historiography. The book then goes on to address a broad range of luxury goods, such as intaglios, cameos, vessels, and statuettes, providing a full and multifaceted account of luxury in the ancient world.