The Ancient Art Of Emulation

Are copies of Greek and Roman masterpieces as important as the originals they imitate?

Arguing that the scholarship on this topic has not appreciated Roman values in the visual arts, this book examines Roman strategies for the appropriation of the Greek visual culture. A knowledge of Roman values explains the entire range of visual appropriation in Roman art, which includes not only the phenomenon of copying, but also such manifestations as allusion, parody, and, most importantly, aemulatio, successful rivalry with one's models.

Emulation is a challenging middle ground between imitation and invention. The idea of rivaling by means of imitation, as old as the Aenead and as modern as Michelangelo, fit neither the pessimistic deference of the neoclassicists nor the revolutionary spirit of the Romantics. Emulation thus disappeared along with the Renaissance humanist tradition, but it is slowly being recovered in the scholarship of Roman art. It remains to recover emulation for the Renaissance itself, and to revivify it for modern practice. Mayernik argues that it was the absence of a coherent understanding of emulation that fostered the fissuring of artistic production in the later eighteenth century into those devoted to copying the past and those interested in continual novelty, a situation solidified over the course of the nineteenth century and mostly taken for granted today. This book is a unique contribution to our understanding of the historical phenomenon of emulation, and perhaps more importantly a timely argument for its value to contemporary practice.

A fascinating shift toward more nuanced interpretations of Roman art that look at different kinds of social knowledge and local contexts

This book, first published in 2004, develops a theoretical concept for understanding the Roman art of images.

A complete introduction to the rich cultural legacy of Rome through the study of Roman art ... It includes a discussion of the relevance of Rome to the modern world, a short historical overview, and descriptions of forty-five works of art in the Roman collection organized in three thematic sections: Power and Authority in Roman Portraiture; Myth, Religion, and the Afterlife; and Daily Life in Ancient Rome. This resource also provides lesson plans and classroom activities."--Publisher website.

The proem to Herodotus's history of the Greek-Persian wars relates the long-standing conflict between Europe and Asia from the points of view of the Greeks' chief antagonists, the Persians and Phoenicians. However humorous or fantastical these accounts may be, their stories, as voiced by a Greek, reveal a great deal about the perceived differences between Greeks and others. The conflict is framed in political, not absolute, terms correlative to historical events, not in terms of innate qualities of the participants. Becky Martin reconsiders works of art produced by, or thought to be produced by, Greeks and Phoenicians during the first millennium B.C., when they were in prolonged contact with one another. Although primordial narratives that emphasize an essential quality of Greek and Phoenician identities have been critiqued for decades, Martin contends that the study of ancient history has not yet effectively challenged the idea of the inevitability of the political and cultural triumph of Greece. She aims to show how the methods used to study ancient history shape perceptions of it and argues that art is especially positioned to revise conventional accountings of the history of Greek-Phoenician interaction. Examining Athenian and Tyrian coins, kouros statues and wall mosaics, as well as the familiar Alexander Sarcophagus and the sculpture known as the "Slipper Slapper, " Martin questions what constituted "Greek" and "Phoenician" art and, by extension, Greek and Phoenician identity.

Arguing that the scholarship on this topic has not appreciated Roman values in the visual arts, this book examines Roman strategies for the appropriation of the Greek visual culture. A knowledge of Roman values explains the entire range of visual appropriation in Roman art, which includes not only the phenomenon of copying, but also such manifestations as allusion, parody, and, most importantly, aemulatio, successful rivalry with one's models.

Since the Renaissance, it has been generally accepted that almost all Roman sculptures depicting ideal figures were copies of Greek originals. This text traces the origin of this idea to the academic belief in the mythical perfection of now-lost Greek art.

A History of Roman Art provides a wide-ranging survey of the subject from the founding of Rome to the rule of Rome's first Christian emperor, Constantine. Incorporating the most up-to-date information available on the topic, this new textbook explores the creation, use, and meaning of art in the Roman world. Extensively illustrated with 375 color photographs and line drawings Broadly defines Roman art to include the various cultures that contributed to the Roman system Focuses throughout on the overarching themes of Rome's cultural inclusiveness and art's important role in promoting Roman values Discusses a wide range of Roman painting, mosaic, sculpture, and decorative arts, as well as architecture and associated sculptures within the cultural contexts they were created and developed Offers helpful and instructive pedagogical features for students, such as timelines; key terms defined in margins; a glossary; sidebars with key lessons and explanatory material on artistic technique, stories, and ancient authors; textboxes on art and literature, art from the provinces, and important scholarly perspectives; and primary sources in translation A book companion website is available at www.wiley.com/go/romanart with the following resources: PowerPoint slides, glossary, and timeline Steven Tuck is the 2014 recipient of the American Archaeological Association's Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.