Color and Meaning in the Art of Achaemenid Persia

Alexander Nagel (Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC)

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English

Cambridge University Press
14 September 2023

History of art: ancient & classical art; History of architecture; Archaeology by period & region

In this volume, Alexander Nagel investigates the use of polychromy in the art and architecture of ancient Iran. Focusing on Persepolis, he explores the topic within the context of the modern historiography of Achaemenid art and the scientific investigation of a range of works and monuments in Iran and in museums around the world. Nagel's study contextualizes scholarly efforts to retrieve aspects of ancient polychromies in Western Asia and interrogates current debates about the contemporary use of color in the architecture and sculpture in the ancient Mediterranean world, especially in North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Bringing a multi-disciplinary perspective to the topic, Nagel also highlights the important role of theory, methodology, and conservation studies in the process of reconstructing polychromy in ancient monuments. A celebration of the work of painters, artisans, craftsmen and -women of Iran's past, his volume suggests frameworks through which historical and contemporary research play a dynamic role in the reconstruction of ancient technological knowledge.

By: Alexander Nagel (Smithsonian Institution Washington DC)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 261mm, Width: 184mm, Spine: 22mm
Weight: 960g
ISBN: 9781009361293
ISBN 10: 1009361295
Pages: 325
Publication Date: 14 September 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface; Introduction: the most beautiful blues; 1. Defining polychromies; 2. Historiographical overview; Part I. Approaching Achaemenid Persian Polychromies in the Nineteenth Century – Ancient Literary Testimony and Modern Discourses; 3. Historiographical overview; Part II. Approaching Achaemenid Persian Polychromies in the Twentieth Century; 4. Uncomfortable truths: challenges of documenting and preserving Achaemenid Persian polychromies; 5. A discussion: aspects of non-verbal communication in the Achaemenid Persian empire; 6. Concluding contemplations; Bibliography.

Alexander Nagel is Assistant Professor and Chair of the Art History and Museum Professions Program at the State University of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. He is a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, where he curated exhibitions on Iran, Iraq, Greece, Egypt, and Yemen.

Reviews for Color and Meaning in the Art of Achaemenid Persia

'Nagel's conceptualization of the topic of the use of color on the surfaces of architectural structures and rock reliefs is outstanding in that it is not limited in scope or method. It brings together archaeological evidence, scientific and technological analyses as well as the theoretical and ethical debates around each of them. He considers these along with historiographies of art history of the Ancient Near East, aspects of collecting antiquities in Western museums and the processes of subjecting them to cleaning and conserving in ways that were not always useful. This book is very timely now in that archaeology of the senses are gaining more attention, and materiality studies in both art history and archaeology are expanding.' Zainab Bahrani, Edith Porada Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University