Zanker Chapter Summary

In this chapter, Zanker focuses on the connection between the appropriation of Greek form and culture in Roman art, and moreover highlights the socio-historical circumstances that assisted the wide-ranging production of architects, painters, sculptors and additional artisans during the Roman era.

Zanker commences by addressing that this new “classicism” in Roman art truly evolved from the pillaging of mainland Greek cities, Sicily and southern Italy during the imperialistic Mediterranean expansion, and as such, Romans frequently appropriated artistic Greek forms and ornamentation to define social and political distinctions in public and private buildings as well as in statues, as reflected by the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus. Moreover, Zanker’s

Villa of the Papyri analysis on objects depicts how Rome’s imaginative reformulation of Greek art and culture is more powerful and influential than even the Hellenistic world’s interpretation.

With Zanker’s argument on the unrealistic composition of the Trajanic circus funerary relief as being an intentional dismissal of ubiquitous classical forms in pursuance for fresh and more legible models, he furthermore concludes the widespread importance of this “classicizing” visual language, comprised of firm ideology and ready-made fundamentals that influenced all fundamental parts of religion, life, civic monuments as well as the private areas of houses and graves.

Ordered in a concise, topical manner, Zanker’s well-written review holds great appeal to general readers and students interested in studying art in the Roman world. Besides a limitation in annotated footnotes or referencing, this chapter is greatly useful in supporting artifactual evidence through including multiple images with labels to further detail his arguments. Moreover, this chapter holds useful value as Zanker investigates political and non-political imagery equally as pivotal fundaments in a “system” of visual communication.