Pictorial Illusion in the Ancient Mediterranean

3 units

Among the many accomplishments in the history of Greco-Roman art, ancient writers especially valued the development of pictorial illusion. Pictorial illusion refers to the techniques of reproducing or approximating aspects of the visual perception of the material world on a two-dimensional surface. These include foreshortening, the application of highlights, and the indication of multiple points of depth in space relative to the picture plane. The purpose of the course is to explore the material, stylistic, and technical history of illusionistic painting practices in the ancient Mediterranean world from Classical Greece to Late Antique Rome and to seek to understand the cultural and social significance of those practices. In addition to examining specific historical questions in the development of ancient painting, the course will investigate trans-historical connections between vision, visuality, and methods of representation.