Patrons and Viewers in Late Antiquity

Stine Birk, Birte Poulsen, Stine Birk, Birte Poulsen

• Publisher: Aarhus University Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9788779340114
• eBook ISBN:
  9788771244175
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

The monumentality and the often rich embellishment of late antique buildings and monuments emphasises their importance to the patrons that commissioned them. However, the understanding and interpretation of the message conveyed may often be obtained through the study of the other important agent, namely the viewer. This book contains a collection of papers that focuses on the way patrons, pagan as well as Christian, conveyed messages through material and visual culture and on the reception by the viewers. The contributions investigate how patrons of luxurious buildings, elaborate grave monuments, and churches used architecture, images, and inscriptions to demonstrate political, social, and religious power. The visual arts were a strong factor in communicating identity and attitudes both in the public and private spheres also in Late Antiquity.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Colophon
• Contents
• Introduction
• Stine Birk & Birte Poulsen
• Ehrenstatuen in spätantiken Häusern Roms
• Ulrich Gehn
• Miraculous Bodies: Christian Viewers and the Transformation of ‘Pagan’ Sculpture in Late Antiquity
• Troels Myrup Kristensen
• Patrons, Viewers, and Statues in Late Antique Baths
• Lea Stirling
• Invisible Sarcophagi: Coffin and Viewer in the Late Imperial Age
• Katharina Meinecke
• Sarcophagi, Self-Representation, and Patronage in Rome and Tyre
• Stine Birk
• Inscriptions in the Late Antique Private House: Some Thoughts about their Function and Distribution 
• Veronika Scheibelreiter-Gail
• Patrons and Viewers: Reading Mosaics in Late Antiquity
• Birte Poulsen
• Fourth-Century Villas in the Coln Valley, Gloucestershire: Identifying Patrons and Viewers
• Sarah Scott
• Patrons and Viewers in Late Antique Greece: From Houses and Villas to Early Christian Churches
• Arja Karivieri
• Bishop and Believers – Patrons and Viewers: Appropriating the Roman Patron Saints Peter and Paul in Constantinople
• Gitte Lønstrup Dal Santo
• Patrons and Viewers of Mosaic Pavements in Religious Buildings in Jordan and Palestine
• Mette Low Sørensen
• The Arch of Constantine – Who Saw What?
• Siri Sande
• Spolia, Milestones and City Walls: The Politics of Imperial Legitimacy in Gaul
• Hendrik Dey
• Index – Geographical
• Index – Names and sources