Spolia and Spectacle: Art Collecting Culture in Late Republican Rome

This thesis looks at the evolution of art collection in the middle to late Roman Republic. Through the examination of military triumphs, manubial structures, and the sculpture collection of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, this paper investigates the social motivations for art collection. Art...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Penman, Jill Diana
Format: Others
Published: Scholarship @ Claremont 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/702
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1649&context=scripps_theses
Description
Summary:This thesis looks at the evolution of art collection in the middle to late Roman Republic. Through the examination of military triumphs, manubial structures, and the sculpture collection of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, this paper investigates the social motivations for art collection. Art’s role in Roman society as both spolia and luxuria is discussed through use of ancient literary sources and archaeological evidence. The evolving role of collection is considered as an expression of national and social identity in a politically changing Rome.