Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture

The study of Roman sculpture has been an essential part of the disciplines of Art History and Classics since the eighteenth century. Famous works like the Laoco�n, the Arch of Titus, and the colossal portrait of Constantine are familiar to millions. Again and again, scholars have returned to sculpture to answer questions about Roman art, society, and history. Indeed, the field of Roman sculptural studies encompasses not only the full chronological range of the Roman world but also its expansive geography, and a variety of artistic media, formats, sizes, and functions. Exciting new theories, methods, and approaches have transformed the specialized literature on the subject in recent decades. Rather than creating another chronological catalogue of representative examples from various periods, genres, and settings, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture synthesizes current best practices for studying this central medium of Roman art, situating it within the larger fields of Art History, Classical Archaeology, and Roman Studies. This comprehensive volume fills the gap between introductory textbooks and highly focused professional literature. The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture conveniently presents new technical, scientific, literary, and theoretical approaches to the study of Roman sculpture in one reference volume while simultaneously complementing textbooks and other publications that present well-known works in the corpus. The contributors to this volume address metropolitan and provincial material from the early republican period through late antiquity in an engaging and fresh style. Authoritative, innovative, and up-to-date, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture will remain an invaluable resource for years to come.

Elise A. Friedland is Associate Professor of Classics and Art History at George Washington University.
Melanie Grunow Sobocinski is an independent scholar.
Elaine Gazda is Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology and Curator of Hellenistic and Roman Antiquities for the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan.

- Introduction
- Elise A. Friedland and Melanie Grunow Sobocinski
- I. Collecting, Conservation, and Display
- 1.1 Collecting in pre-modern Europe, Elizabeth Bartman
- 1.2 Conservation and restoration, Jerry Podany
- 1.3 Collecting in early America, Hima Mallampati
- 1.4 Current trends in museum display, Jessica Powers
- 1.5 Three-dimensional scanning and modeling, Bernard Frischer
- II. Production and Distribution
- 2.1 Marble quarries: ancient imperial administration and modern scientific analyses, Patrizio Pensabene and Eleonora Gasparini
- 2.2 Marble carving techniques, workshops, and artisans, Amanda Claridge,
- 2.3 Reuse and recarving: technical evidence, Eric Varner
- 2.4 Bronzes, Carol Mattusch
- 2.5 Terracottas, Adi Erlich
- 2.6 Polychromy, Mark Abbe
- 2.7 Transport and distribution, Benjamin Russell
- III. Styles and Genres
- 3.1 Style: applications and limitations, Mark Fullerton
- 3.2 Etruscan connections, Nancy de Grummond
- 3.3 "Idealplastik" and the Relationship between Greek and Roman Sculpture, Anna Anguissola
- 3.4 Portraiture, Susan Wood
- 3.5 Monumental reliefs, Melanie Grunow Sobocinski and Elizabeth Wolfram Thill
- 3.6 Archaism and eclecticism, Lori-Ann Touchette
- 3.7 Egyptian-style monuments, Molly Swetnam-Burland
- 3.8 Late antique sculpture, Christian Witschel
- IV. Spatial and Social Contexts
- 4.1 Architectural settings, Brenda Longfellow
- 4.2 Religious dedications, Matthew McCarty
- 4.3 Domestic displays, Elaine Gazda
- 4.4 Funerary monuments, Bjoern Ewald
- 4.5 Epigraphy and patronage, Steven L. Tuck
- 4.6 Imperial messages, Barbara Kellum
- 4.7 Non-elite patronage, Lauren Petersen
- 4.8 Gender, Eve D'Ambra and Francesca Tronchin
- V. Regions and Provinces
- 5.1 Northern Gaul, Germany, and Britain, Kimberly Cassibry
- 5.2 Hispaniae and Narbonensis, Alicia Jiménez and Isabel Rodà
- 5.3 North Africa, François Baratte and Nathalie de Chaisemartin
- 5.4 Greece, Mary Sturgeon
- 5.5 Asia Minor, Diana Ng
- 5.6 Egypt, Christina Riggs
- 5.7 Near East, Thomas M. Weber-Karyotakis
- VI. Viewing and Reception
- 6.1 Aesthetics and Latin Literary Reception, Michael Squire
- 6.2 Reception theory, Jennifer Trimble
- 6.3 Ancient analogs of museums, Josephine Shaya
- 6.4 Images of statues in other media, Eric Moormann
- 6.5 Human interactions with statues, Ellen Perry
- 6.6 Iconoclasm, Troels Myrup Kristensen
- Art Credits
- Index