caesar novus Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 I could never get the slightest support in this forum for saying Roman sculpture was uniquely visceral vs a kind of mannered stiffness of the Greek. But in a fascinating lecture series "Greece and Rome: An Integrated History of the Ancient Mediterranean" Prof. Robert Garland backs me up in saying Roman portrait sculpture was uniquely based the tradition of death masks rather than idealization. Even if they were done by Greek artists, they had to change to the Roman warts and all depiction. Not just a fashion, but could have real purpose in identifying a VIP when seen live. http://www.teach12.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=3300 I love Roman sculpture, and almost everything that this course attributes to the Romans, whether it was different from the Greeks or borrowed from them. SPQR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 But in a fascinating lecture series "Greece and Rome: An Integrated History of the Ancient Mediterranean" Prof. Robert Garland backs me up in saying Roman portrait sculpture was uniquely based the tradition of death masks rather than idealization. http://www.teach12.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=3300 Alhtough I can't comment on your point about Roman sculpture, I have to agree that Professor Garland's course is a great one, one of the best that the company has to offer. I feel that this particular course is sort of the "graduate level" course of all the numerous Ancient courses offered by The Teaching Company. guy also known as gaius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caesar novus Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I'm sure I will repeat this course, I'm just sorry I only have access to the audio and not video portion. I don't think it's difficult at all - he seems to drill down to the heart of the matter and keeps you saying "Oh, that finally makes sense to me, when you tell it THAT way". The death mask origin of Roman portrait sculpture is kind of creepy, but must explain the typically deadpan (or at least unassuming) expression of the mouth and eyes. Such a contrast to the theatrical or pretentious norm, but I suppose it is just another form of affectation for which I project noble thoughts into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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