Craftscapes in Action: Makers and Making in the Ancient World
The standard textbooks of ancient art tend to
present its history either in narratives
concentrating on great artists and their
inventions or as a succession of
“anonymous” period styles. Both traditions
are based on selective syntheses of ancient
texts that reveal, on closer inspection, only
an oblique interest in art. In this seminar we
will take a closer look at the objects
themselves to explore what they can reveal
about ancient processes of creation. We will
consider how different techniques (such as
weaving, freehand modelling, molding,
painting, engraving, carving, hammering,
etc.) were applied to different media (from
textile fibers, clay, faience, glass to metals
and stone) to create decorative and
utilitarian items as well as art and
architecture. Focus on specific case studies
will be combined with discussion of
theoretical insights from craft studies and
themes relating to creativity, such as
imitation, design, recycling, risk, and failure.
Particular attention will be given to the
diversity of approaches that can be brought
to bear in studying ancient craft—from small
scale analyses of how hands, minds, and
materials collaborated in the process of
creation to investigation of the social and
economic settings in which creativity was
embedded, including domestic production,
workshop organization, patronage, mobility,
and markets. Last but not least we will
examine how the status of artists and
originality was expressed in ancient
signatures and workshop treatises and how
the reception of such texts from the
Renaissance onwards elevated ancient
craftspeople to paragons for modern artists.
3 credits. Satisfies the chronological
requirement.