Alexandria and Alexandrianism

Alexandria and Alexandrianism
Author: J. Paul Getty Museum
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 316
Release: 1996-09-26
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0892362928

One of the great seats of learning and repositories of knowledge in the ancient world, Alexandria, and the great school of thought to which it gave its name, made a vital contribution to the development of intellectual and cultural heritage in the Occidental world. This book brings together twenty papers delivered at a symposium held at the J. Paul Getty Museum on the subject of Alexandria and Alexandrianism. Subjects range from “The Library of Alexandria and Ancient Egyptian Learning” and “Alexander’s Alexandria” to “Alexandria and the Origins of Baroque Architecture.” With nearly two hundred illustrations, this handsome volume presents some of the world’s leading scholars on the continuing influence and fascination of this great city. The distinguished contributors include Peter Green, R. R. R. Smith, and the late Bernard Bothmer.

Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World

Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World
Author: Katherine M. D. Dunbabin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 412
Release: 1999
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780521002301

This book provides a comprehensive account of mosaics in the ancient world from the early pebble mosaics of Greece to the pavements of Christian churches in the East. Separate chapters in Part I cover the principal regions of the Roman Empire in turn, in order to bring out the distinctive characteristics of their mosaic workshops. Questions of technique and production, of the role of mosaics in architecture, and of their social functions and implications are treated in Part II. The book discusses both well-known works and recent finds, and balances consideration of exceptional masterpieces against standard workshop production. Two main lines of approach are followed throughout: first, the role of mosaics as a significant art form, which over an unbroken span illuminates the evolution of pictorial style better than any comparable surviving medium; and secondly, their character as works of artisan production closely linked to their architectural context.

The Mosaics of Alexandria

The Mosaics of Alexandria
Author: Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets
Publisher:
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2021-10
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781649030740

A beautifully illustrated study of mosaic art in Greco-Roman Egypt The art of the mosaic was developed by the Greeks, notably within the royal court of Macedonia, and was initially unknown to the Egyptians. Macedonian mosaicists then established busy workshops in the capital, Alexandria, and in the new towns of Greek Egypt. Under the stimulus of commissions from the Ptolemaic court, these workshops soon showed that they were capable of innovation. Beginning with pebbles, they then used tesserae of different sizes, and adopted new materials (glass, faience, paint) in order to transpose onto the floor images from grand paintings, which was the major art form of the time and was characterized by the vivid use of color. Alexandrian mosaicists were at the forefront of creativity during the Hellenistic period and their influence spread around the Mediterranean. After the Roman conquest of Egypt they adapted to the tastes of their new sponsors and to changes in architecture and were able to retain an important place within this art as it developed across the entire empire, in Rome and from east to west. The Mosaics of Alexandria provides the first overview of the mosaics and pavements of Egypt that were created between the end of the fourth century BC and the sixth century AD. It presents a selection of some seventy mosaics and pavements from Alexandria and Greco-Roman Egypt. Generally little known and more often than not unpublished, these works are illustrated here in full color, some for the first time. The aim is to better understand the artistic and artisanal production of a type of decoration that played an important role within the living environment of the ancients.

Hellenizing Art in Ancient Nubia 300 B.C. - AD 250 and its Egyptian Models

Hellenizing Art in Ancient Nubia 300 B.C. - AD 250 and its Egyptian Models
Author: László Török
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 510
Release: 2011-07-12
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9004211292

This book presents a comprehensive discussion of the culture transfer between Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt and Nubia between 300 BC-AD 250. Hellenizing art in Nubia is treated as a Nubian phenomenon expressing Nubian ideas in which only those aspects of Egyptian and Greek art were adopted that were compatible with those goals.