The course focuses on visual culture and examines figurative evidence (primarily sculpture, but also buildings and their decorative program) in order to understand its impact on Greek and Roman societies. The chronological scope extends from the Late Archaic period (6th century BC) to the fall of the Roman Empire (5th century AD).

Through the examination of statues, portraits, reliefs, private residences, religious and public buildings, the course will explore the relationship between works of art and society and seek to interpret the language of visual art, with particular attention to forms of self-representation, political and religious propaganda, and the expression of personal ambition. To this end, particular emphasis will be placed on the messages conveyed by individual forms of visual culture in relation to their specific cultural, social, and political contexts, with special consideration given to location, historical period, style, patronage, and decorative themes.

More specifically, the programme will be organised into four main topics (modules):

Module I (Introduction): Formal characteristics of Greek and Roman art and their development over the centuries, from the Archaic to the Imperial period, with reference to sculptural and architectural production (approximately Lectures 9–14).

Module II: Visual culture and religion: representations of the gods in Greece and Rome (approximately Lectures 9–14).

Module III: Visual culture in civic life: places of public life (the Athenian Agora and the Roman Forum); representations of men and women (approximately Lectures 15–18), including portraits, clothing and dress, and honorific statuary.

Module IV: Visual culture in private life: the layout, furnishings, and decoration of houses in Greece and Rome (approximately Lectures 19–22).

Bibliography for the exam:

- Hölscher, Tonio, The Language of Images in Roman Art, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

- Hölscher, Tonio Visual Power in Ancient Greece and Rome: Between Art and Social Reality, Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018]: selected chapters.

- Spivey, Nigel Jonathan, Greek Sculpture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013: Chapters: 1-2; 6-7; 10-11.

à Further bibliography (articles and selected parts of books) will be indicated during the lessons.