Loading...
Gardens Beneath the Ash: Contextualizing Naturalistic Imagery within Pompeii's Urban Fabric
Gaborek, Rebecca Marie
Gaborek, Rebecca Marie
Abstract
In this thesis, I argue that the naturalistic wall-paintings decorating Pompeian peristylia during the late 1st century BCE and early- to mid-1stcentury CE sought to identify the homeowner with broader cultural movements celebrating “Romanness.” A new understanding of Roman identity originated with Augustus’ programs of urban and civic renewal, which adopted images of nature, both literary and artistic, to put forth ideas of peace, cultural fertility, and nationalistic superiority. As the Roman empire continued to expand and change under the principate, such symbols established an opposition between the notion of proper Roman personhood and the moral decay of late Republican Rome, as well as the practices of non-Romans in the Mediterranean. My hypothesis counters scholarship that posits that naturalistic Pompeian wall-paintings created spatial illusions in an attempt to emulate wealthier homeowners for the purposes of gaining prestige. I instead develop a framework that contextualizes this artistic form within the transitionary historical period from which it hailed.
Description
Date
2019-04-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Collections
Download Dataset
Rights Holder
Usage License
Embargo
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Citation
Department
Classical Studies