0005  Geographies of Provincialism in Roman Sculpture

Peter Stewart

doi:10.11588/riha.2010.0.68533

Authors

Peter Stewart

The Courtauld Institute of Art, London

Peter Stewart completed all his studies in classics at the University of Cambridge where he also taught, before becoming a lecturer at Reading University and a curator of the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology. He moved to The Courtauld Institute of Art in 2000, where he is serving as Acting Dean in 2010-11. He has worked widely in the fields of classical art and cultural history, publishing on topics as diverse as Roman Britain in ancient literature, the image of Priapus and Roman lamps, as well as Roman statues - the subject of his 1998 PhD thesis. His main current interests lie in Roman provincial sculpture and the history of the sculpture collection at Wilton House.

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Abstract

Focusing on Roman Britain but using examples across the empire, this article examines the relevance of geography to the form and distribution of "provincialized" classical imagery in the Roman period. This must be explained with reference to the competence of the craftsmen, the expectations of provincial artists and viewers, and geological factors. In some cases geology rather than culture seems to have a surprisingly large role in determining the presence and absence of sculpture. Attention to the material complexities of the geography of provincial sculpture provides a useful foil to considering Roman imperial art as a pervasive visual culture.

Published in 2010: RIHA Journal

Date

2010-07-27

DOI

https://doi.org/10.11588/riha.2010.0.68533

URN