Please consider this image for May 1st

Rather than having an image from a topic that we have already discussed in class, here is an image that has more bearing on the city of Dura Europos (although this image is not from Dura). We are looking at here…

Dear All,

Please write about this image (this is from a city that you have read about and if you cannot recall what it is, I would go through the powerpoint about urbanism from class). Please remember that all posts are due BEFORE class. Also please read each other posts. If someone has already identified this building and what it is, then think about what else you can add rather the repeating what someone else has said. Think about comparisons for this building? Is it common? why do people build these? does a Roman city need one?

Elizabeth

Blog Posting 2

Each Student is responsible for weekly posting (posts should be no more than 200 words long). All posts are due by the beginning of next class (in this case, April 10th).  Please respond to other posts.

I will start the ball rolling by asking a simple question: Why did I post this photograph?

other questions to answer / think about: Where is this relief from? what was its probable context? What is the possible date of this relief?

This image recalls examples of the Egyptian Fayum mummy portraits (which was a possible exam image for the art history comprehensive exam) in the combination of the  classicizing painted portrait on a wooden panel used within the mummification, which is a burial practice more closely associated with ancient Egyptian traditions.  The crown is suggestive of Roman garlands, further emphasizing the classical influence in this portrait.  The technique may have included the use of encaustic, which would explain the well-preserved condition of this portrait.  The style of bandaging on the body recalls the description by Venit of the central niche in the Tigrane Pasha Street tomb, wherein she describes the encasement typical of the Roman period as exemplified by the use of diagonal lines forming rhombic shapes and leaving the center open as a square.

The young man depicted in the portrait painting is facing frontally, revealing his lack of beard and his short haircut.  He appears to be wearing a white cloth around his neck.  The bust portrait is in relative proportion to the rest of the figure encased in the wrappings (only slightly smaller), reinforcing the suggestion of the figure of which this portrait was painted.  The representation of the shoulders relative to the placement of the portrait head does create some questionable anatomic naturalism, however, overall the viewer can imagine the general form of the figure underneath.