The Alexander Mosaic: Stories of Victory and Defeat

by Ada Cohen

The Alexander Mosaic: Stories of Victory and Defeat focuses on one of the richest, most complex and visually stunning monuments of classical antiquity. Contributing to a vast tradition of scholarship, which dates back to the discovery of the Mosaic in 1831, Ada Cohen here engages with, but departs from, a core of positivist assumptions that characterize this literature. In this study, she examines the Mosaic as it may have functioned in two different contexts, first as a Greek painting of the fourth century B.C., and then as a Roman mosaic of ca. 100 B.C.

295 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 1997

Reviews

[Albert Lusnia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough study of the mosaic and the putative painting. Tackles a lot f the interpretive aspects (intentions of the creator and the viewer, dramatic aspects of the image vs. Iconic or narrative aspects), so the text can get a little rough if this is not your primary area of interest. The author does provide some excellent examples to illustrate her arguments. She also does a good job of demarcating the limits of our knowledge for this item.