Overview

This book is based on an investigation of more than five hundred recarved portraits. It includes analyses of different recarving methods, some of which can be attributed to geographically localised workshops. The different recarving methods have made it possible to suggest classifiable categories, which together underpin a hypothesis that the late-antique portrait style is a consequence of the many recarved portraits at the time. The practice of portrait recarving emerged due to economic, political, religious and ideological factors, and was influenced by the cultural-historical changes of Late Antiquity. The conclusion gives a new understanding of how wide-ranging, culturally and politically encoded and comprehensive the practice of recarving was.

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9789004182714

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Perhaps the greatest significance of Prusac's work-aside from the immense task of amassing the material and publishing it to the benefit of students and other scholars-is the observation that certain technical constraints involved in recarving seem to have determined-at least in part-a primary characteristic of late-antique style, namely the generally stylized features, large eyes and upward gaze. The factors behind the change from one style to the other constitute one of the major questions to be addressed again and again in art history and classical archaeology, and here, certainly, Prusac makes a brave attempt to say something new. This aspect alone is enough for the author to be proud of her work. Rune Frederiksen, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018.02.11

Author Information

Marina Prusac, Ph.D. (2007) is Associate Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. Her research includes investigations of ancient portraiture, late-antique sculpture and cultural identities in the Roman province of Illyria-Dalmatia.

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