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Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph: The Art of the Roman Empire AD 100-450
This stimulating book offers an exciting new approach to the twin themes of the arts of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christian art. Beginning in the second century, with its rich revival of ancient learning and artistic practices, and ending in the fifth with Christian narrative and
liturgical cycles and the pilgrimage arts, this book explores the art of the Roman Empire by tackling two inter-related periods of internal the 'Second Sophistic' ( c. ad 100-300), and the era of late antiquity ( c. ad 250-450). For the first time, these two themes are treated
together, throwing a more penetrating light on the radical change undergone by the empire in becoming a Christian imperium. Vases, murals, statues, and masonry are explored in relation to such issues as power, death, society, acculturation, and religion. By examining questions of reception, viewing,
and the culture of spectacle alongside the more traditional art-historical themes of imperial patronage and stylistic change, Elsner presents a fresh and challenging account of a rich cultural crucible in which many developments of later European art had their origins.
liturgical cycles and the pilgrimage arts, this book explores the art of the Roman Empire by tackling two inter-related periods of internal the 'Second Sophistic' ( c. ad 100-300), and the era of late antiquity ( c. ad 250-450). For the first time, these two themes are treated
together, throwing a more penetrating light on the radical change undergone by the empire in becoming a Christian imperium. Vases, murals, statues, and masonry are explored in relation to such issues as power, death, society, acculturation, and religion. By examining questions of reception, viewing,
and the culture of spectacle alongside the more traditional art-historical themes of imperial patronage and stylistic change, Elsner presents a fresh and challenging account of a rich cultural crucible in which many developments of later European art had their origins.
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 6, 2019
Following on from Beard and Henderson’s Classical Art in Greece and Rome , Jaś Elsner explores the visual culture of the ‘Second Sophistic’ and ‘Late Antiquity’, suggesting that the development of Roman art is characterised by a constant reinterpretation of its own traditions. The second edition (2018) adds an account of the Eurasian context. Elsner examines the exchange between Rome and other empires, and the distribution of art further afield via the Silk Road to far-flung (for a Roman) climes like Cape Cormorin and Beitan, north-west China. So lavishly illustrated with maps, plans and photos, one could write an ekphrasis .
July 2, 2014
Upon my return home from a five-week stint in Rome on research, I wanted a little something to beef up my knowledge of the art that I saw there, since that's where my knowledge of the ancient world is not as strong in other areas, like old-fashioned 'history', or literature, or even philosophy. I chose this book because I've read some of the series' volume Early Medieval Art by Lawrence Nees and liked it. Furthermore, this book covers the periods I most wanted to investigate -- from the High Empire in the 100s through Late Antiquity, ending in AD 450. This is the period when most of Rome's remaining monuments were erected, and it's also the period I research.
I thought the book would move chronologically, but it did not. Instead, Elsner takes you through the centuries thematically. The book is divided into three major themes, each of which is further subdivided into different facets of Roman art. The intellectual superstructure of the entire book is the consideration of how art in the Roman world interacts with society, culture, government. How do the changes in the thoughtlife and politics of the era, from the Second Sophistic to the rise of Christianity, from the Good Emperors to the 'Crisis', then the Tetrarchy and beyond impact art? What roles does art play in 'private'? Is the Roman world ever private? How does the movement of poltical gravity from Rome to the frontiers influence style and scale of art?
While certain of these questions are addressed head-on as the main subjects of the chapters, they all permeate the book at one level or another throughout. As a result, this volume is not a collection of essays by Elsner, each of which touches upon a different aspect of 250 years of art history. Instead, we have a coherent whole that presents Roman art in a comprehensible manner as one facet of a major, changing society.
In line with so much research in the past few decades in various aspects of the later Roman world, Elsner does not see a grand break from classicism in emergent and early 'triumphant' Christian art. Elements of classicism persist into the Middle Ages, while some aspects associated with Late Antique and Christian art are present in the second and third centuries, let alone the pre-Constantinian tetrarchy as well as the art of the fourth-century polytheist Symmachus. Christianity certainly had its own contributions to make to art, given its relationship to text, its monotheism, its drive for theological precision, its status as a formerly persecuted sect; but these factors worked alongside the factors of the classical world to create a new development, not a rupture.
I withhold one star first because I wasn't sure about all of Elsner's comments and (perceived) attitudes towards imperial Christianity, and second because he maintains the Second Sophistic in the second century AD as the period when Romans consciously adopted a Hellenistic culture, taking on Greek rather than Roman mythology and philosophy and all that goes with it. To give but one contrary example (I believe many abound), given the interaction of Catullus (d. 54 BC) with Hellenistic poetry, it does not strike me that the Second Sophistic is when Rome assimilated herself into the Hellenistic world. Perhaps, rather, it is the full flowering of that assimilation?
I thought the book would move chronologically, but it did not. Instead, Elsner takes you through the centuries thematically. The book is divided into three major themes, each of which is further subdivided into different facets of Roman art. The intellectual superstructure of the entire book is the consideration of how art in the Roman world interacts with society, culture, government. How do the changes in the thoughtlife and politics of the era, from the Second Sophistic to the rise of Christianity, from the Good Emperors to the 'Crisis', then the Tetrarchy and beyond impact art? What roles does art play in 'private'? Is the Roman world ever private? How does the movement of poltical gravity from Rome to the frontiers influence style and scale of art?
While certain of these questions are addressed head-on as the main subjects of the chapters, they all permeate the book at one level or another throughout. As a result, this volume is not a collection of essays by Elsner, each of which touches upon a different aspect of 250 years of art history. Instead, we have a coherent whole that presents Roman art in a comprehensible manner as one facet of a major, changing society.
In line with so much research in the past few decades in various aspects of the later Roman world, Elsner does not see a grand break from classicism in emergent and early 'triumphant' Christian art. Elements of classicism persist into the Middle Ages, while some aspects associated with Late Antique and Christian art are present in the second and third centuries, let alone the pre-Constantinian tetrarchy as well as the art of the fourth-century polytheist Symmachus. Christianity certainly had its own contributions to make to art, given its relationship to text, its monotheism, its drive for theological precision, its status as a formerly persecuted sect; but these factors worked alongside the factors of the classical world to create a new development, not a rupture.
I withhold one star first because I wasn't sure about all of Elsner's comments and (perceived) attitudes towards imperial Christianity, and second because he maintains the Second Sophistic in the second century AD as the period when Romans consciously adopted a Hellenistic culture, taking on Greek rather than Roman mythology and philosophy and all that goes with it. To give but one contrary example (I believe many abound), given the interaction of Catullus (d. 54 BC) with Hellenistic poetry, it does not strike me that the Second Sophistic is when Rome assimilated herself into the Hellenistic world. Perhaps, rather, it is the full flowering of that assimilation?
September 2, 2016
Such a good book of art history is your cup of tea and interests you. Is very easy to read and helps one to appreciate how Christianity rose to triumph over pagan Rome.
March 3, 2019
The book lacks passion for the subject and remains dry and descriptive. The author never falls in love with the artifacts described and fails to transmit any emotion to the reader. The focus on the visual culture of Romans is definitely an interesting and innovative angle. Yet the pictures selection is poor and oddly dispersed through the text, making it harder to connect with the writer's arguments.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews