Individuality—and its representation—is taken as a hallmark of modernity. What, then, was the purpose and meaning of portraiture in the ancient world? First traceable to the Egyptians, who painted portraits of the dead to accompany their burial, ancient portraiture was a highly prolific practice—and seemingly far more inclusive, class-wise, than the patronized portraiture industries that memorialized centuries of European aristocrats and grandees. Yet, its uses and techniques varied greatly, both within and between societies, from the striking verisimilitude of Egyptian funerary portraits and Roman murals to the idealized forms exemplified in Grecian and Roman sculpture. But, how can we understand portraiture as a mode of representation in the ancient world? How did it serve to forge, express, and consolidate social, cultural, and political ties, as well as conceptions of class, gender, and selfhood? What can a study of ancient portraiture teach us about the human propensity to render and capture the individual visage?
In this course, we will critically explore practices of portraiture in the ancient Mediterranean world. Our case studies will vary, from ancient Asia Minor to Egypt to the Greco-Roman worlds. We will ask: What sort of conception of the self did the ancients possess? And in what way, if at all, was it distinguished from occupation, class, gender, tribe, or political office? What motivated, at different times and in different places, the aims and forms of ancient portraiture? And how did ancient portraitists negotiate the boundaries between the real and the ideal? In addition to examining paintings, figurines, death masks, and statuary, we will read from both primary sources and contemporary analyses, including works by Hans Belting, Richard Brilliant, Irene Winter, Paul Zanker, Jan Assmann, David Freedberg, and Gisela Richter.
