Frame in Classical Art: A Cultural History

The book explores the role of framing in Graeco-Roman art, arguing that it is more than just a decorative accessory. It examines the relationship between classical antiquity and modern art and aesthetics, using close formal analysis and theoretical approaches to explore themes such as framing pictorial space, framing bodies, framing the sacred, and framing texts.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 735 pages
Publication date: 29 October 2020
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The frames of classical art are frequently perceived as incidental to the images they enclose. Traditional art history has tended to regard framing devices as mere decorative embellishments. Similarly, classical archaeologists have often treated them as tools for taxonomic analysis. This book not only advocates for the essential role of framing within Graeco-Roman art, but also delves into the interplay between the frames of classical antiquity and those of more contemporary art and aesthetics. Contributors employ a combination of close formal analysis and more theoretical approaches: chapters explore framing devices across various media, including vase and fresco painting, relief and free-standing sculpture, mosaics, manuscripts, and inscriptions. Structuring the analysis around themes such as framing pictorial space, framing bodies, framing the sacred, and framing texts, the result is a novel cultural history of framing that probes the sophisticated and playful ways in which frames could support, delimit, shape, and even interrogate the images contained within.

Weight: 1260g
Dimension: 170 x 245 x 2 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781316614815