Die Römische Kunst

by Paul Zanker

Traditional studies of Roman art have sought to identify an indigenous style distinct from Greek art and in the process have neglected the large body of Roman work that creatively recycled Greek artworks. Now available in paperback, this fresh reassessment offers instead a cultural history of the functions of the visual arts, the messages that these images carried, and the values that they affirmed in late Republican Rome and the Empire. The analysis begins at the point at which the characteristic features of Roman art started to emerge, when the Romans were exposed to Hellenistic culture through their conquest of Greek lands in the third century B.C. As a result, the values and social and political structure of Roman society changed, as did the functions and character of the images it generated. This volume, presented in very clear and accessible language, offers new and fascinating insights into the evolution of the forms and meanings of Roman art.

Genres: Art, History, Art History, Nonfiction, Archaeology

Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Paul Zanker is the professor of Storia dell’Arte Antica at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. Previously Zanker was professor of classical archaeology at the University of Munich (1976–2002) and the University of Göttingen (1972–1976). He is a noted expert on Roman art and archaeology and a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, of the Academia Europaea, of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, the Pontifical Academy of Archaeology and of the German Archaeological Institute. From 1990 to 1991 he was the Sather professor of the University of California at Berkeley. Zanker is head of the German Commission for the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum.

Reviews

[Overbooked ✎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents itself an introduction to Roman art, however the reader should be aware of its significant limitations in terms of scope and period covered.

The book focuses almost exclusively on sculptures. Paintings, metal works and mosaics are barely mentioned, architecture is severely limited to funerary monuments and commemorative arches and these are only scarcely described. As far as period covered, the book concentrates on the Hellenistic and early imperial period while late antiquity is briefly mentioned on the last chapter few pages.

The author presents a number of interesting readings of the “self-image” as seen by Romans themselves and the book contains a fine number of pictures supporting his interpretations. Worth a read if interested in the Roman Hellenistic period.

[Lavinia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lettura non pesante, scorrevole. Il libro parla dello sviluppo Artistico Romano, molto interessante per quanto riguarda lo studio sulla ritrattistica e come cambiamo i canoni della rappresentazione in base all’area geografica e alle tradizioni.

[Neil White · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photography of Roman artwork and sculpture in this volume is beautiful. Paul Zanker uses the imagery to highlight themes and patterns in Roman artwork starting with the adaptation of Greek forms until the time of Constatine.

[Martina Conforti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guida universitaria abbastanza completa. Il contesto generale è ben spiegato, mentre invece sulle singole opere non si dice più dello stretto necessario.

[Leandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Für eine gute Einführung in die römische Kunst, kann ich dieses Buch nicht höher empfehlen.

Ich musste dieses Buch für die Uni lesen, und es fühlte sich nicht wie eine Aufgabe an.

[Davide Bassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno dei libri meglio scritti tra quelli che ho letto. Lo stile ti riporta veramente nelle epoche descritte e l'esposizione è sempre chiara e completa. Giustamente ci sono molte foto

[Eleanor Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just brushing up on my Roman art history, Zanker is insightful as always

[andreea · Rating 5 out of 5]

È un libro straordinariamente ricco di informazioni sulla storia e l’arte che la decora continuamente.

[Kamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on quality rather than quantity in that it doesn't look at a wide range of Roman artifacts, but it does provide in depth analysis of those that it does survey. Great photographs though many are in black and white, which takes away from their immediacy.

[Alda Delicado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gostei bastante mas trata-se apenas de um resumo de algumas das principais tendências da arte romana. As imagens são de grande qualidade e exemplificam perfeitamente os conceitos discutidos no texto. Só gostava que fosse um pouco mais aprofundado.

[Tamer Edwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good Book