Classical Art: A Life History from Antiquity to the Present by Caroline Vout

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 195 (commonly temples and stoas) within the confines of sanctuaries, prior to its appearance on the Old Bouleuterion (198) requires some modification. The Doric order does appear on images of fountain houses on Black Figure vases (Hydria of the Priam Painter and the François vase) and the entrance to Peleus’ house on the François vase. Altogether, this volume is an admirable undertaking, which sets the standard for future syntheses of theory and methodology in Mediterranean archaeology during other time periods. As the first synthetic treatment with a unique approach to the subject matter it constitutes a valuable contribution to this area of study. University of New Brunswick Maria Papaioannou Classical Art: A Life History from Antiquity to the Present. By Caroline Vout. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. 2018. Pp. 376, 80 colour and 132 b/w illustrations. Caroline Vout's latest work represents a refreshingly new approach to the discussion of classical Greek and Roman sculpture, using artworks to provide the insight that “comes from antiquities that carry their dirt with them” (3). She emphasises that only “if we can trace them back to where the ancients left them—better still, to where the ancients used them—can we appreciate what these artifacts meant and did—give them back their agency (sic)” (1). Vout divides her work into nine full chapters covering a multitude of objects, ranging from the antique to the modern. In her first chapter (“Setting the Agenda, or Putting the Art into Heritage”), she opens with the much discussed Tyrannicides, providing a fresh perspective on what could have been treated as an old chestnut by examining how their status and meaning changed over time. In this introductory chapter, Vout also clarifies some key terms, most saliently how “Art” and the ancient term ars correlate. “Context,” by which Vout means display contexts (12), is also highlighted, although it is not until Chapter Nine that the more traditional interpretation of this term is considered in detail. Chapter Two (“Finding the Classical in Hellenistic Greece”) begins with Nero’s theft of sculptures from Delphi. A comprehensive survey of Hellenistic art and its debt to classical precursors follows, ending with a section, entitled “Learning to Look” (39–42), which uses a discussion of the “Hellenistic gaze” to set the scene for the Romans’ utilisation of Greek themes, modified to their own tastes and palettes. Roman culture can be branded as indistinct from and overly reliant on the Greek, but Vout does not take this traditional approach in Chapter Three (“Making Greek Culture Roman Culture”). Instead she poses apt questions pertaining to the absorption of Greek visual culture. With an emphasis on imperial sculpture she concludes that Augustan classicism was inevitable and that Roman conquests could be configured into a Greek idiom. A short discussion of the impact of Greek painting on the Roman domestic environs allows space for a beautifully illustrated section on Roman mosaics and wall paintings. Chapter Four (“Roman Art, the Building Blocks of Empire”) opens up to a more grandiose vista, engaging with Rome and its shift “from repository of culture to tou Ellhnikoœ &Eynouw, t. 2 (Athens 1971) 196–200; W. Waal, “On the ‘Phoenician Letters’: The Case for an Early Transmission of the Greek Alphabet from an Archaeological, Epigraphic and Linguistic Perspective,” Aegean Studies 1 (2018) 83–125. 196 PHOENIX cultural exemplar” (71). One example is the Roman emphasis on collecting (75–80), in Vout’s phrasing, “like Caesar” (75). Appropriation of classical culture continues in pagan and Christian contexts, and Vout’s comments on Christianity’s need and use of pagan art to support and promote a new imperial narrative are astute. The following section on the Middle Ages is sadly brief, but does include an engaging equestrian statuette of a portly Charlemagne or Charles the Bald (91, fig. 4.15). Chapter Five (“Reviving Antiquity in Renaissance Italy”) examines the Renaissance view of classical art and its effect on Europe’s understanding of Greek and Roman culture up to the mid-eighteenth century. Vout considers “variations in practice, and evolving . . . attitudes to collecting, exhibition, and restoration” (97). There is a wealth of expertly managed material here, which Vout enriches...