1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781455703321

Autore

Squire Michael

Titolo

The art of the body : antiquity and its legacy / / by Michael Squire

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London : , : I.B. Tauris, , 2011

ISBN

0-7556-2523-4

1-283-15222-3

9786613152220

0-85771-931-9

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (257 p.)

Collana

Ancients and moderns

Disciplina

704.9/42

Soggetti

Art and society

Art, Classical

Civilization, Modern

Human beings in art - Psychological aspects

History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Embodying the classical -- Figuring what comes naturally? Writing the 'art history' of the body -- The ancient female nude (and other modern fictions) -- Stripping down and undressing up -- On gods made men made images.

Sommario/riassunto

"The art of the human body is arguably the most important and wide-ranging legacy bequeathed to us by Classical antiquity. Not only has it directed the course of western image-making, it has shaped our collective cultural imaginary - as ideal, antitype, and point of departure. This book is the first concerted attempt to grapple with that legacy: it explores the complex relationship between Graeco-Roman images of the body and subsequent western engagements with them, from the Byzantine icon to Venice Beach (and back again). Instead of approaching his material chronologically, Michael Squire faces up to its inherent modernity. Writing in a lively and accessible style, and supplementing his text with a rich array of pictures, he shows how Graeco-Roman images inhabit our world as if they were our own. The



Art of the Body offers a series of comparative and thematic accounts, demonstrating the range of cultural ideas and anxieties that were explored through the figure of the body both in antiquity and in the various cultural landscapes that came afterwards. If we only strip down our aesthetic investment in the corpus of Graeco-Roman imagery, Squire argues, this material can shed light on both ancient and modern thinking. The result is a stimulating process of mutual illumination - and an exhilarating new approach to Classical art history."--Bloomsbury Publishing.