Buch, Englisch, Band 336, 264 Seiten
Reihe: Collection Latomus
Buch, Englisch, Band 336, 264 Seiten
Reihe: Collection Latomus
ISBN: 978-2-87031-277-3
Verlag: PEETERS PUB
Among the stories surrounding the legendary foundation of the city of
Rome by the twins, Romulus and Remus, previous scholarly attention has
focused primarily on one scene – the depiction of the she-wolf nursing
the twins following their miraculous salvation from the floodwaters of
the Tiber. This book examines another event in the cycle, the conception
of the twins, in which the Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia, is visited in her
sleep and raped by the god Mars. Some fifty-one examples of the
encounter of Mars and Rhea Silvia are analyzed, drawn from coins, relief
sculpture, gems, wall painting, mosaics, and pottery, covering a time
frame from the motif’s origin in the early 1st century B.C. to its
disappearance in the late 4th century A.D. An analysis of the scene's
iconographical evolution and its documented periods of popularity, both
in the public and private sphere, are associated with contemporary
trends in Roman literature, religion, and art.
This monograph on the representation of Mars and Rhea Silvia is not
simply a self-contained study of a single motif over a specific time
frame. Within the realm of Roman art, the book discusses larger issues
concerning the relationship between art, myth and religion, and
political propaganda, drawing from methodologies of appropriation (Kopienkritik),
word and image, semiotics, and memory culture. As such, the book
constitutes a case study whose conclusions may serve as guidelines for
the study of Roman art in general.
