Patrick R. Crowley
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226648293
- eISBN:
- 9780226648323
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226648323.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
How could something as insubstantial as a ghost be made visible through the material grit of stone and paint? Using the figure of the ghost, this book offers a new understanding of the status of the ...
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How could something as insubstantial as a ghost be made visible through the material grit of stone and paint? Using the figure of the ghost, this book offers a new understanding of the status of the image in Roman art and visual culture. Tracing the shifting practices and debates in antiquity about the nature of vision and representation, it shows how images of ghosts make visible structures of beholding and strategies of depiction. Yet the figure of the ghost simultaneously contributes to a broader conceptual history that accounts for how modalities of belief emerged and developed in antiquity. Neither illustrations of ancient beliefs in ghosts nor depictions of the afterlife more generally, these images ultimately show us something about the visual event of seeing itself.Less
How could something as insubstantial as a ghost be made visible through the material grit of stone and paint? Using the figure of the ghost, this book offers a new understanding of the status of the image in Roman art and visual culture. Tracing the shifting practices and debates in antiquity about the nature of vision and representation, it shows how images of ghosts make visible structures of beholding and strategies of depiction. Yet the figure of the ghost simultaneously contributes to a broader conceptual history that accounts for how modalities of belief emerged and developed in antiquity. Neither illustrations of ancient beliefs in ghosts nor depictions of the afterlife more generally, these images ultimately show us something about the visual event of seeing itself.
Ben Russell
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199656394
- eISBN:
- 9780191765193
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656394.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, European History: BCE to 500CE
The use of stone in vast quantities is a ubiquitous and defining feature of the material culture of the Roman world. In this volume, Russell provides a new and wide-ranging examination of the ...
More
The use of stone in vast quantities is a ubiquitous and defining feature of the material culture of the Roman world. In this volume, Russell provides a new and wide-ranging examination of the production, distribution, and use of carved stone objects throughout the Roman world, including how enormous quantities of high-quality white and polychrome marbles were moved all around the Mediterranean to meet the demand for exotic material. The long-distance supply of materials for artistic and architectural production, not to mention the trade in finished sculpture, such as statues and sarcophagi, is one of the most remarkable features of the Roman economy. Despite this, it has never received much attention in mainstream economic studies. This study provides a new synthesis of all aspects of this phenomenon. The first two chapters focus on the market for stone and its supply, dealing with the administration, distribution, and chronology of quarrying, based on a dataset of nearly 800 quarries. These are followed by a detailed assessment of the practicalities of stone transport, including a new evaluation of the shipwreck evidence, and the distribution patterns of stone in different areas of the Roman world. The final three chapters concentrate on the question of production and carving techniques, dealing in turn with architectural elements, sarcophagi, and statuary, exploring how the relationship between producer and customer functioned even over considerable distances.Less
The use of stone in vast quantities is a ubiquitous and defining feature of the material culture of the Roman world. In this volume, Russell provides a new and wide-ranging examination of the production, distribution, and use of carved stone objects throughout the Roman world, including how enormous quantities of high-quality white and polychrome marbles were moved all around the Mediterranean to meet the demand for exotic material. The long-distance supply of materials for artistic and architectural production, not to mention the trade in finished sculpture, such as statues and sarcophagi, is one of the most remarkable features of the Roman economy. Despite this, it has never received much attention in mainstream economic studies. This study provides a new synthesis of all aspects of this phenomenon. The first two chapters focus on the market for stone and its supply, dealing with the administration, distribution, and chronology of quarrying, based on a dataset of nearly 800 quarries. These are followed by a detailed assessment of the practicalities of stone transport, including a new evaluation of the shipwreck evidence, and the distribution patterns of stone in different areas of the Roman world. The final three chapters concentrate on the question of production and carving techniques, dealing in turn with architectural elements, sarcophagi, and statuary, exploring how the relationship between producer and customer functioned even over considerable distances.
Ben Russell
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199656394
- eISBN:
- 9780191765193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656394.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter turns to the question of distribution, looking at the factors that determined where particular stones were used, what they were used for and why. Stone is valued according to the use to ...
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This chapter turns to the question of distribution, looking at the factors that determined where particular stones were used, what they were used for and why. Stone is valued according to the use to which it is to be put and so different materials are sought out for different projects. Focusing on the use to which stones are put, discussion focuses on the distribution of stones used for building in five areas—Asia Minor, the Levant, Spain, Gaul, the Rhineland, and Britain—and in each considers the impact that geography or supply systems had on the employment of particular materials. Sarcophagi and statuary were used and bought differently from raw materials for building and their distribution patterns are consequently divergent. Finally, imperial redistribution of decorative stone operated on a quite different scale from ordinary, everyday stone use and the mechanisms underpinning this operation are the focus of the last section of this chapter, as is the relationship between the imperial and non-imperial stone trade.Less
This chapter turns to the question of distribution, looking at the factors that determined where particular stones were used, what they were used for and why. Stone is valued according to the use to which it is to be put and so different materials are sought out for different projects. Focusing on the use to which stones are put, discussion focuses on the distribution of stones used for building in five areas—Asia Minor, the Levant, Spain, Gaul, the Rhineland, and Britain—and in each considers the impact that geography or supply systems had on the employment of particular materials. Sarcophagi and statuary were used and bought differently from raw materials for building and their distribution patterns are consequently divergent. Finally, imperial redistribution of decorative stone operated on a quite different scale from ordinary, everyday stone use and the mechanisms underpinning this operation are the focus of the last section of this chapter, as is the relationship between the imperial and non-imperial stone trade.
Ben Russell
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199656394
- eISBN:
- 9780191765193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656394.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, European History: BCE to 500CE
The production of sarcophagi has received a lot of attention in scholarship. Enormous quantities of these objects were carved and traded long distances in the Roman Empire. This chapter provides a ...
More
The production of sarcophagi has received a lot of attention in scholarship. Enormous quantities of these objects were carved and traded long distances in the Roman Empire. This chapter provides a detailed overview of how this production was organized, focusing both on those major marble quarries that became recognized centres for the supply of raw materials and those smaller production centres all around the Roman world who supplied local markets with sarcophagi. As in the previous chapter, the work that went into producing sarcophagi is followed from quarry through to the final customer. Although sarcophagi often ended up being produced in a narrow range of standardized forms, the impact of consumer demand on this phenomenon should not be underplayed. Production-to-stock, while perhaps a reality in certain circumstances, was neither widespread nor typical for sarcophagi.Less
The production of sarcophagi has received a lot of attention in scholarship. Enormous quantities of these objects were carved and traded long distances in the Roman Empire. This chapter provides a detailed overview of how this production was organized, focusing both on those major marble quarries that became recognized centres for the supply of raw materials and those smaller production centres all around the Roman world who supplied local markets with sarcophagi. As in the previous chapter, the work that went into producing sarcophagi is followed from quarry through to the final customer. Although sarcophagi often ended up being produced in a narrow range of standardized forms, the impact of consumer demand on this phenomenon should not be underplayed. Production-to-stock, while perhaps a reality in certain circumstances, was neither widespread nor typical for sarcophagi.
Ben Russell
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199656394
- eISBN:
- 9780191765193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656394.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, European History: BCE to 500CE
This concluding chapter sums up many of the conclusions drawn from the preceding chapters, concentrating on what the stone trade can add to our understanding of the wider Roman economy. To this end, ...
More
This concluding chapter sums up many of the conclusions drawn from the preceding chapters, concentrating on what the stone trade can add to our understanding of the wider Roman economy. To this end, it focuses on the role of the state, the evidence for local, regional, and inter-regional connectivity provided by the distribution of particular stone types, and what the carving of architectural elements, statuary, and sarcophagi reveal about production, in particular mass production, in the Roman world.Less
This concluding chapter sums up many of the conclusions drawn from the preceding chapters, concentrating on what the stone trade can add to our understanding of the wider Roman economy. To this end, it focuses on the role of the state, the evidence for local, regional, and inter-regional connectivity provided by the distribution of particular stone types, and what the carving of architectural elements, statuary, and sarcophagi reveal about production, in particular mass production, in the Roman world.
Patrick R. Crowley
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226648293
- eISBN:
- 9780226648323
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226648323.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
This chapter explores the figure of the ghost to offer a new understanding of the status of the image in Roman art and visual culture. It shows how ancient depictions of ghosts operate recursively by ...
More
This chapter explores the figure of the ghost to offer a new understanding of the status of the image in Roman art and visual culture. It shows how ancient depictions of ghosts operate recursively by depicting the conditions of depiction and even the visual event of seeing itself, and that this recursive play in turn makes visible the systems of classification that shape this relay.Less
This chapter explores the figure of the ghost to offer a new understanding of the status of the image in Roman art and visual culture. It shows how ancient depictions of ghosts operate recursively by depicting the conditions of depiction and even the visual event of seeing itself, and that this recursive play in turn makes visible the systems of classification that shape this relay.
Patrick R. Crowley
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226648293
- eISBN:
- 9780226648323
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226648323.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
This chapter examines the origins of the iconography of Doubting Thomas around the turn of the fifth century. By taking up the famous incredulity of the apostle who was uncertain whether he was ...
More
This chapter examines the origins of the iconography of Doubting Thomas around the turn of the fifth century. By taking up the famous incredulity of the apostle who was uncertain whether he was seeing a mere ghost or the actual, resurrected body of Christ in the flesh, it considers how the imagery keys into broader theological and philosophical arguments about sense-perception, materiality, and embodiment.Less
This chapter examines the origins of the iconography of Doubting Thomas around the turn of the fifth century. By taking up the famous incredulity of the apostle who was uncertain whether he was seeing a mere ghost or the actual, resurrected body of Christ in the flesh, it considers how the imagery keys into broader theological and philosophical arguments about sense-perception, materiality, and embodiment.