A major new illustrated survey on two internationally significant Imperial Roman portrait busts.
Imperial Colors focuses on the paired busts of Emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193-211) and his wife, Empress Julia Domna in the Eskenazi Museum of Art, two of the finest known examples of later Roman portrait sculpture. This book presents innovative multidisciplinary research that is accessible both to specialists and generalists. In addition to contextualising these portraits in the visual art and culture of the wider Roman empire, this publication will provide the first detailed and secure evidence for their original appearances. Highlights of this include the recently discovered vestiges of colorful paint, fresh insights into masterful marble polishes, and fascinating possibilities regarding their production and display in antiquity. These sculptures are also carefully constructed images, designed to promote political ideas. They represent continuity with older Imperial models but were updated to create a distinctive visual language for the new Imperial house.
AUTHORS: Mark Abbe is associate professor of Art History, University of Georgia. Recent publications include ""Faces in Living Color: Marble Portraits, Portrait Painting, and Individualization, c. 330-30 BC."" in The Portrait Face. Understanding Realism and Verism in Greek and Roman Portraiture, (2021).
Julie Van Voorhis is associate professor of Art History, Indiana University. She is the author of, most recently, Aphrodisias X: The Sculptor's Workshop (2018).
SELLING POINTS: .
Provides a rich artistic and historical context for two important imperial portraits and presents new research on the original appearance of these paired portraits .
Offers a major - and fascinatingly new - study of both the practice and use of polychromy in ancient classical sculpture, and the wider context within in which such portraits busts were designed, created, and displayed, and the complex messages that lay behind the representations of their subjects .
Of interest to ancient art scholars (re: new research) but written to include a broader audience as well: undergraduate university students and interested museum visitors, those with an interest in Ancient Roman art and history .
Extensive exploration of these major sculptural art works, an approach that inspires close consideration of the portraits themselves but that also places them in a broader artistic, historical, and social context
136 colour ilustrations
By:
Julie Van Voorhis,
Mark Abbe
Imprint: GILES
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 279mm,
Width: 241mm,
ISBN: 9781913875275
ISBN 10: 191387527X
Pages: 216
Publication Date: 01 May 2023
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified
"Director's Foreword: David Brenneman, Wilma E. Kelley Director, Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University Preface: Juliet Graver Istrabadi, Curator of Ancient Art, IU Eskenazi Museum of Art Chapter 1: Introduction General background Origins and development of the project Acknowledgements Chapter 2: The Eskenazi Portraits Introduction The portrait bust of Septimius Severus The portrait bust of Julia Domna Portrait typology, chronology, and self-presentation Why busts? Chapter 3: Bringing Marble to Life Introduction Marble-carving techniques and the Eskenazi Museum workshop Polish and paint The origin of the marble and its implications Chapter 4: Portraits, Power, and the Visualization of Dynasty Introduction Alliances and images: Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus Visualizing power: Septimius Severus as sole emperor and the consolidation of dynasty The ""African Emperor""Maternal messages in the portraits of Julia Domna The afterlife of Julia Domna Chapter 5: Modern Histories and Ancient Displays Introduction The acquisition and provenance of the Eskenazi Museum Busts The commission and display of Imperial portrait busts in the High Imperial period Archaeological evidence for bust display contexts in the Imperial Period /p> Portrait busts in Late Antique houses Appendix 1: Marble Analysis (Scott Pike, Professor of Environmental Science and Archaeology, Willamette University) Appendix 2: Pigment Analysis (Gregory Smith, Senior Conservation Scientist, Indianapolis;Museum of Art/Newfields) Bibliography Index"
Mark Abbe is associate professor of Art History, University of Georgia. Recent publications include ""Faces in Living Color: Marble Portraits, Portrait Painting, and Individualization, c. 330-30 BC."" in The Portrait Face. Understanding Realism and Verism in Greek and Roman Portraiture, (2021). Julie Van Voorhis is associate professor of Art History, Indiana University. She is the author of, most recently, Aphrodisias X: The Sculptor's Workshop (2018).
Reviews for Imperial Colors: The Roman Portrait Busts of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna: The Ezkenazi Museum of Art
""Looks in part to the remnant polychromy of the sculptures to help shed light, and color, on these two imperial figures""--James Panero, The New Criterion
