Chapter 16
Displaying Sculpture in Rome
Thea Ravasi,
Thea Ravasi
Search for more papers by this authorThea Ravasi,
Thea Ravasi
Search for more papers by this authorBook Editor(s):Pierre Destrée,
Penelope Murray,
Pierre Destrée
Search for more papers by this authorPenelope Murray
Search for more papers by this authorSummary
Sculptures played an essential role in the Roman world as powerful expressions of culture, identity, and status. Ideas about beauty and appropriateness influenced subjects, style, and dimensions of statues but also their setting in public and private spaces. Hadrian's villa at Tivoli (Rome) offers an excellent case for the study of the aesthetics of display of Roman sculptures: about 500 statues are said to come from this imperial estate and attempts have been made to reconstruct their original setting. Looking at the settings of sculptures within niches, the chapter will focus on the aesthetic values that underpinned the planning of the villa's sculptural display.
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Further Reading
- In the past 20 years, great efforts have been put into broadening our understanding of the role of art works in their architectural setting. Researchers have focused on the reception of sculptures in domestic architecture (Neudecker 1988), and more generally on Roman perceptions of decoration in the visual realm of the Roman house (Wallace Hadrill 1988; Gazda 1991; Clarke 1991).
- Studies on Roman perceptions and responses to statuary in both the public and the private sphere have also broadened the discussion on the perception and modes of engagement of the Roman viewer from the educated male citizen (Stewart 2003) to the perspectives and attitudes of non-elite viewers (Clarke 2003).
- The aesthetic values that underpinned Roman appreciation of sculptures and imitation in the arts, with particular reference to the notions of decorum, eclecticism, and phantasia, have been considered by Helen Perry (2005), while Jaś Elsner has explored the act of viewing in the Greco-Roman world both in texts and in the visual arts, assessing the variety and multiplicity of visualities that the Romans were able to apply to what they looked at (2007).
