Greek Art in Rome: Discourse, Dedication, and Reflection

3 units

Throughout the modern period, Ancient Greek art has been perceived as a genuinely original and creative tradition in which both individual artists and regional schools made some of the most significant advances in the long development of European art. Roman art, by contrast, has been seen as derivative and secondary; Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the founder of modern art history, classified it among the style of the imitators. However, this traditional dichotomy rests in large part on the Romans' own reactions to their encounters with the arts of Greece. Through the analysis of textual sources, architecture, statuary, and painting, this course will investigate the status and influence of Greek art in the city of Rome from the third-century BCE until the late Imperial period, and it will seek to understand how Roman responses to and uses of Greek art have come to shape the modern perception of both traditions. Prerequisites: L01 113 or L01 215, or permission of instructor. One 300-level course in Art History preferred.