- [UNTITLED]
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations and Spelling
- Contributors
- Introduction: Advocating a Hermeneutic Approach
- Greek and Roman Theories of Art
- Greek and Roman Architectural Theory
- Greek and Roman specialized Writing on Art and Architecture
- Greek and Roman Images of Art and Architecture
- Greek and Roman Artists
- Greek and Roman Architects
- The Patronage of Greek and Roman Art
- The Patronage of Greek and Roman Architecture
- The Materials and Techniques of Greek and Roman Art
- The Materials and Techniques of Greek and Roman Architecture
- The City in the Greek and Roman World
- The Functions of Greek Art
- The Functions of Roman Art
- Buildings, Images, and Rituals in the Greek World
- Buildings, Images, and Rituals in the Roman World
- The Roman Reception of Greek Art and Architecture
- Roman Art and Architecture in the Provinces and beyond the Roman World
- The Post-Antique Reception of Greek and Roman Art and Architecture
- The Historiography of Greek and Roman Art and Architecture
- Conserving Greek and Roman Architecture
- Displaying Greek and Roman Art in Modern Museums
- Greek and Roman Art and the Debate about Cultural Property
- Connoisseurship
- Formal Approaches
- Iconographical and Iconological Approaches
- Sociohistorical Approaches
- Gender Studies
- Anthropological Approaches
- Theories of Reception
- Semiotics TO Agency
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter examines Greek and Roman theories of art, paying particular attention to images, the notion of “ancient art theory,” the theory of mimesis, and the ideas of philosophers including Plato and Aristotle. Citing book 19 of the Odyssey, it explores the material nature of the products of artistic craft, their impact on viewers, and the function and contexts framing the use and reception of artifacts. It considers the reasons for the apparent absence of “theories of art” in ancient Greece and Rome and analyzes a number of objects and texts concerning objects. It also discusses the material and affective dimensions of ancient aesthetics, along with the representational (and epiphanic) nature of art and its capacity to access an invisible reality or ideal. Finally, the chapter looks at the artist’s role in fashioning the image and the sources of the “vision” or mental apprehension informing his work.
Keywords: aesthetics, ancient art theory, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, art, artifacts, images, philosophers, theory of mimesis
Deborah Steiner, Department of Classics, Columbia University
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- [UNTITLED]
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations and Spelling
- Contributors
- Introduction: Advocating a Hermeneutic Approach
- Greek and Roman Theories of Art
- Greek and Roman Architectural Theory
- Greek and Roman specialized Writing on Art and Architecture
- Greek and Roman Images of Art and Architecture
- Greek and Roman Artists
- Greek and Roman Architects
- The Patronage of Greek and Roman Art
- The Patronage of Greek and Roman Architecture
- The Materials and Techniques of Greek and Roman Art
- The Materials and Techniques of Greek and Roman Architecture
- The City in the Greek and Roman World
- The Functions of Greek Art
- The Functions of Roman Art
- Buildings, Images, and Rituals in the Greek World
- Buildings, Images, and Rituals in the Roman World
- The Roman Reception of Greek Art and Architecture
- Roman Art and Architecture in the Provinces and beyond the Roman World
- The Post-Antique Reception of Greek and Roman Art and Architecture
- The Historiography of Greek and Roman Art and Architecture
- Conserving Greek and Roman Architecture
- Displaying Greek and Roman Art in Modern Museums
- Greek and Roman Art and the Debate about Cultural Property
- Connoisseurship
- Formal Approaches
- Iconographical and Iconological Approaches
- Sociohistorical Approaches
- Gender Studies
- Anthropological Approaches
- Theories of Reception
- Semiotics TO Agency
- Index
