Biering & Brinkmann Verlag: Books

Meyer, Hugo Prunkkameen und Staatsdenkmäler römischer Kaiser Neue Perspektiven zur Kunstgeschichte der frühen Prinzipatzeit.

The pompous large cameos such as the Grande Camée de France and the Gemma Augustea are usually considered to be witnesses to a Roman court art, which are puzzling for the modern viewer because the makers are said not to have adhered to the otherwise valid rules of iconography. This opinion is disproved. The general dating of the large cameos is corrected by a number of decades. This process clarifies the presently diffuse image of the procedure of style development in the times of Julius and Claudius to a degree much more far-reaching than the glyptic products themselves. Main works such as the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias and the much discussed frieze of S. Vitale in Ravenna - but also the Cancelleria Reliefs and the Portland vase - are now seen in a new light and a number of members of the emperor's household are now identified for the first time. Overall this is an attempt to present a new view of the early history of art in the empire based on reliable foundations.