Roman Portraits and Persons

Catalog description

Ancient Rome is famous for lifelike portraits of powerful individuals like Pompey, Julius Caesar and the emperors, but not everyone received portraits. We also have to consider how everyone else was represented: women and people with non-normative genders; working people and bodies in pain; soldiers, gladiators, enemies of Rome. In this class, we study Roman portraits from Republican verism through imperial images to changes with the rise of Christianity, practicing close looking and discussing larger issues. What is a portrait, anyway? How did Roman artists create likeness - and why? Why were some portraits violently attacked? What concepts of the person and society were at stake? We will see how this tradition still shapes our world, from Confederate statues to selfies.