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Twelve Caesars : images of power from the ancient world to the modern / Mary Beard.

Beard, Mary, 1955- (author.).

Summary:
"From the bestselling author of SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, the fascinating story of how images of Roman autocrats have influenced art, culture, and the representation of power for more than 2,000 years. What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of politicians we deplore? In this book-against a background of today's "sculpture wars"-Mary Beard tells the story of how for more than two millennia portraits of the rich, powerful, and famous in the western world have been shaped by the image of Roman emperors, especially the "twelve Caesars," from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian. Twelve Caesars asks why these murderous autocrats have loomed so large in art from antiquity and the Renaissance to today, when hapless leaders are still caricatured as Neros fiddling while Rome burns. Beginning with the importance of imperial portraits in Roman politics, this richly illustrated book offers a tour through 2,000 years of art and cultural history, presenting a fresh look at works by artists from Memling and Mantegna to the nineteenth-century African American sculptor Edmonia Lewis, as well as by generations of now-forgotten weavers, cabinetmakers, silversmiths, printers, and ceramicists. Rather than a story of a simple repetition of stable, blandly conservative images of imperial men and women, Twelve Caesars is an unexpected tale of changing identities, clueless or deliberate misidentifications, fakes, and often ambivalent representations of authority. From Beard's reconstruction of Titian's extraordinary lost Room of the Emperors to her reinterpretation of Henry VIII's famous Caesarian tapestries, Twelve Caesars includes some fascinating detective work and offers a gripping story of some of the most challenging and disturbing portraits of power ever created.Published in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780691222363
  • ISBN: 0691222363
  • Physical Description: xi, 376 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm.
  • Publisher: Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2021]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Preface -- The Emperor on the mall: an introduction -- Who's who in the twelve Caesars -- Coins and portraits, ancient and modern -- The twelve Caesars, more or less -- The most famous Caesars of them all -- Satire, subversion and assassination -- Caesar's wife... above suspicion? -- Afterword -- Appendix: The verses underneath Aegidius Sadeler's series of emperors and empresses.
Subject: Kings and rulers > Portraits.
Power (Social sciences) in art.
Emperors > Rome > Portraits.
Art, Roman > Influence.

Available copies

  • 8 of 8 copies available at SPARK Libraries. (Show)

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 8 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Albright Memorial Library 709.02 BEARD (Text) 50686016105475 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Gettysburg Library 709.02 BEARD (Text) 35740635795198 Nonfiction Available -
Highland Community Library 709.02 BEA (Text) 35610000981808 HGHM Non-Fiction Available -
Martin Library Adults 709.02 BEA Life Times (Text) 33454005817804 2nd Floor Available -
Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity 709.02 BEA 2021 (Text) 31001101834753 Adult Non Fiction Available -
Windber Public Library 709.02 Beard (Text) 34950000560728 WINM Main Available -
Allentown Public Library 709.02 BEAR (Text) 34455006837534 Adult Nonfiction 1st FL Available -
Bethlehem Main Library 709.02 (Text) 33062009536252 Adult Nonfiction Available -


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