Portraiture in Greece and Rome was a vital currency of social interaction and public engagement - across gender, class, location and context. As new archaeological data and research methodologies are transforming our understanding of its form and impact, the field is one of the most vibrant of ancient art. The course will discuss all aspects of what made a portrait: facial characteristics, hairstyles, body types, and clothing, as well as the inscribed base and placement. It will do so with a keen awareness of the developments and experimentations of the medium over time. The course will investigate themes like the uses of male and female portraits in public, the use of type-associations and role models, and the choices of statue types and status indicators. It will ask questions about who commissioned works, about workshop practices and distribution, and about the visual impact of techniques and form for the viewer, as well as why some portraits were destroyed or reworked.

Satisfies "the Ancient World" core course requirement for Art History majors

The course follows a chronological format combined with thematic investigations. The overarching aim is an investigation of the agency of public portraits and of portraits as cultural currency at the intersection between donor, honoree, and community.

The course will examine portraits as objects in context
The focus is on a detailed examination of Roman portraiture from the late Republic to the late Empire (2nd century BC to 4th century AD), across the Roman world. This is framed by discussion of honorific portrait traditions, as well as by considerations of the methods of reproduction and distribution of imperial portraiture

The course will examine portraits as performative depictions
The changing styles of portraiture over time will be considered for their ability to engage the viewer and to engage with other statue depictions. Similarly, the choice of statue body will be considered as a social and gendered statement, as well as a civic statement to activate spaces of display and processes of viewing.

The course will examine the persuasive presence portraits 
The visual impact of the form of the abbreviated portrait, and the possibilities of display, texture and viewing engagement it provides, will form a point of consideration. So will examples where the agency of the portrait and the viewer appear juxtaposed: in the deliberately changed or in the damaged portrait.

·    In-depth knowledge of key artworks and monuments, and their multifaceted connotations. The aim is to develop a contextualized appreciation of the multifaceted visual and artistic culture within which portraiture is displayed.

·    Familiarity with portraits across a broad range of artistic media and ability to analyze the impact of technique and material. The aim is for a nuanced understanding of the interests shaping the material culture of a complex visual world.

·    Understanding of developments and traditions in honorific display of late Republican to late Imperial Rome. The aim is to develop an awareness of cultural characteristics and an ability to analyze trends and changes.

·    Familiarity with the rhetoric of forms and styles, the inherent narrativity of objects, and the impact of viewing. The aim is for an awareness of portraits as dynamic intermediaries of social interaction.

·    The course will present students with works of diverse patronage and consider the transmission of inspiration and influence. The aim is for an awareness of the impact of patronage and of social interaction in Rome.

Attendance requirements
•   You are expected to attend all scheduled classes. Absences and late arrival will be noted: three late arrivals will count as an absence, more than two absences will affect your fina grade. Please refer to the university catalogue for the attendance and absence policy.
•   You are expected to have dealt with food, drink and bathroom needs before class.
•   Make-up work is not offered, except in exceptional circumstances and after consultation with the Dean of Academic Affairs.

Use of electronic media (computers, phones, etc.) are not permitted in the class and must be stored in your bag during class time

Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed.

Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam: a major exam (midterm or final) cannot be made up without the permission of the Dean’s Office. Permission will be granted only when the absence is caused by a serious impediment or grave situation, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or funeral service for immediate family. Absences due to conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. 

Details of further reading suggestions as well as a relevant bibliography for the course will be provided at the start of term

Essential bibliography includes:
Bartman, E. (1999) Portraits of Livia. Imaging the imperial woman in Augustan Rome. CUP.
Borg, Barbara (ed.) (2015) A Companion to Roman Art. Wiley-Blackwell
Fejfer, J. (2008) Roman Portraits in Context. De Gruyter.
Flower, H. (1996) Ancestor Masks and Aristocratic Power in Roman Culture. Clarendon Press.
Flower, H.I. (2006) The Art of Forgetting: Disgrace and Oblivion in Roman Political Culture. University of North Carolina Press.
Friedland, E.A., Sobocinski, M.G. and Gazda, E.K. (eds) (2015) Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture.
Galinsky, K. (1996) Augustan Culture. PUP.
Hallett, C. (2005) The Roman Nude. OUP.
James, S.L. and S. Dillon (2012) (eds), A Companion to Women in the Ancient World. Wiley-Balckwell.
Kleiner, D.E.E. (1992) Roman Sculpture. YUP.
Rose, C.B. (1997a) Dynastic Commemoration and Imperial Portraiture in the Julio-Claudian Period. CUP.
Varner, E. (2000) (ed.) From Caligula to Constantine: Tyranny and Transformation in Roman Portraiture. Michael C. Carlos Museum.
Stewart, P. (2003) Statues in Roman Society. Representation and Response. OUP.
Wood, S. (1999) Imperial Women. A Study in Public Images, 40 B.C. - A.D. 68. Brill.

COURSE SCHEDULE

1. Introduction to the course and to ancient portraiture

Course requirements and logistics. Reading portraits in context

2. Representational form and honorific expectations

Honorific and commemorative aspects of portraits; expectations and audience response

3. Creating an imperial portrait

Formation of an imperial style; portrait types of Augustus

4. Creating an imperial female honorific portrait

Creating public images for women in the Augustan–Julio-Claudian period

5. Republican honorific portraits

Late Republican portrait approach (verism), choice of statue bodies second- and first-century BC

6. Continuity and disruption: Portrait as political statement

Portrait approaches between Tiberius and Domitian. Visual experimentation, political allegiance, and consensus politics

7. The politics of the female portrait

Hair as individualization, adornment, and visual ‘status’

8. Male statue types – replication and social performativity

Characteristics of togate, cuirassed, and nude statue choices, in early Empire: Visual replication and variation

9. Female statue types: presence and social agency

Public imaging of women; patronage, gendered roles and statue types;

10. Reception and persuasion: reworked images

First-century AD reworked portraits

11. The styled image

The styled image: beards and paideia; relationship between imperial circle and elite in second/third century AD

12. Glamorous intellectuals

Male portraits during the Second Sophistic. Paideia

13. Review

14. Commissions and ‘period-faces’

Methods of commissioning works; approved models and assimilated looks

15. Midterm exam

16. Materiality and color

Choices of materials and techniques; application of color

17. Contexts of viewing: display as spatial articulation

Spatial experimentation

18. Contexts of viewing: figure and architecture

Architectural settings and the effectiveness of aedicular/niche facade architecture;

19. Provincial engagement: type image and reused statues

Statue display and statue engagement over time; reused and rededicated statues

20. Bust portraits and abbreviated formats

Abbreviated statuary formats: herms and freestanding bust. Villa display

21. The absent image – Damnatio memoriae

Memory and memory sanctions. Absence as representation; third-century AD reworked portraits

22. The late imperial image

Third and fourth century AD. Styled image and close-up viewing

23. The late antique portrait

Portrait approaches and new social relationships

24. Statue practice and the agency of reuse in late antiquity

Late antique statue dedications; choices and forms of statue bodies; reuse of statues

25. Current approaches

Presentations of approach adopted in an academic paper, contextualized in relation to course content

26. Current approaches

Presentations of approach adopted in an academic paper, contextualized in relation to course content

27. Current approaches

Presentations of approach adopted in an academic paper, contextualized in relation to course content

28. Current approaches

Presentations of approach adopted in an academic paper, contextualized in relation to course content