FU Berlin Digitale Dissertation
Claudia Wölfel : Myth and Political Allegory on Silverware of the Roman Imperial Period Mythos und politische Allegorie auf Tafelsilber der römischen Kaiserzeit
|Abstract| |Table of Contents| |More Information|

Abstract Based on a group of late-antique silver dishes and plates which were commissioned by emperors or high-ranking officials for the explicit purpose of representation, and are decorated in a manner fitting that purpose, the question is put forth wether Roman silverware in general is suited to convey political messages. The aforementioned representation pieces, however, occur only from the early fourth century AD onward; on the other hand, several mythological images on silverware have been interpreted in a political sense as well. Therefore, they were included in the research. Various mythological, representative and historical themes are studied with respect to their iconography and the possibility of a political reading.Individual pieces are placed in their historical context, interpreted with relation to their use, or their scenes related to literary traditions. Some mythological scenes on silverware, especially in the late antique period, are shown to be more or less accurate text illustrations, whereas others depict popular themes and motives in a rather general fashion; the search for political implications in mythological images, however, does not yield much evidence. In order to determine the role of the exceptions, such as the late-antique representation pieces, within the whole genre of Roman silverware, a chronological overview over relief-decorated Roman silver is given in a second part. There it is attempted to describe and compare changes in the selection of subjects, the forms of vessels chosen to depict them and the narrative structure of the imagery, applying a set of parameters defined in advance, over three distinct periods (early imperial period, middle and late imperial period , late antiquity and early Byzantine age). Thus it is possible to discern concentrations of certain themes in one period or the lack thereof in another, as well as changes in the shapes of the objects and, depending on that, changes in the narrative structure. The results are grouped together in a table. Several of the pieces that were studied and interpreted individually in the first part are now, by placing them in the larger context of contemporary silver, shown to be typical representatives of a fashion of their respective time, which, in some cases, slightly modifies their Interpretation. As a result it can be stated that Roman silverware in its entirety can certainly not be proclaimes a "political medium" and that those pieces that do contain a political implications are, indeed, exceptions.

Table of Contents Download the whole PhDthesis as a zip-tar file or as zip-File For download in PDF format click the chapter title Titelblatt Vorwort I. Einleitung II. Analyse und Interpretation der Bildthemen: historisch-politische und mythologische Darstellungen auf römischen Silberarbeiten 1. Historisch-politische Darstellungen 1.1. Offizielle Repräsentation auf Tafelsilber 1.2. Historische Darstellungen und Allegorien 2. Darstellungen aus dem trojanischen Mythenkreis 2.1. Darstellungen von Ereignissen aus dem trojanischen Krieg .2. Kindheitsmythos des Achilles 2.3. Odyssee: Die Heimkehr des Helden 3. Herakles-Darstellungen 3.1. Die zwölf Arbeiten des Herakles 3.2. Andere Herakles-Abenteuer 3.3. Herakles-Motive 3.4. Gründe für die (allgemeine) Beliebtheit des Herakles: Deutungsansätze 4. Themen aristokratischen Lebens: Jagd und Bankett 4.1. Bekannte Jäger aus dem Mythos 4.2. Nichtmythologische Jagd- und Bankettszenen 5. Einzelmythen 5.1. Roms mythischer Ursprung: Der sogenannte Bokchoris-Becher 5.2. Frühaugusteische Orestes-Bilder 5.3. Jason und Kreusa? Der Becher aus Wardt-Lüttingen 5.4. Kultszenen als Zeugnisse der "heidnischen Reaktion" im 4. Jahrhundert? Die Platten von Corbridge und Parabiago 5.5. Eine frühbyzantinische Textilillustration auf der Platte von Castelvint III. Entwicklung der Bildthemen und ihrer Darstellungsweise auf dem Tafelsilber der Kaiserzeit 1. Späte Republik und frühe Kaiserzeit (1.Jhv.-1.Jh.n.Chr.) 2. Mittlere und späte Kaiserzeit (2.-3.Jh.n.Chr.) 3. Spätantike bis frühbyzantinische Zeit (4.-7-Jh.n.Chr.) 4. Entwicklung der Bildthemen und Formen in tabellarischer Übersicht IV. Auswertung und Zusammenfassung Abkürzungsverzeichnis und Bildnachweise Literatur

More Information:
Online available:	http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/2002/16/indexe.html
Language of PhDThesis:	german
Keywords:	Tafelsilber; historisch; Mythebild; Allegorie; politisch; Propaganda; Kaiser; offiziell
DNB-Sachgruppe:	46 Bildende Kunst
Date of disputation:	12-Jul-1996
PhDThesis from:	Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin
First Referee:	Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Heilmeyer
Second Referee:	Prof. Dr. Adolf H. Borbein
Contact (Author):	ademont@xs4all.nl
Date created:	04-Feb-2002
Date available:	12-Feb-2002

 

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