Arretine Sigillata and Changes in the Pictorial Habit between the Late Republic and Early Empire

• Applicant: Dr. Manuel Flecker
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: from 2016 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 327913740

The broad focus of this project is the pictorial habit, meaning the targeted use of pictures of different narrative density. The pictorial habit includes the full spectrum from simple ornament, to more semantically charged figural scenes, to complex pictorial narrative. The use of imagery permeated all realms of life, beginning no later than the Geometric period, and continuing uninterrupted throughout antiquity. Nevertheless, the relative frequency of pictures varied over time, across regions, and according to context. There are periods characterized by a wealth of pictorial imagery, as well as epochs during which these largely vanish. The aim of this investigation is to highlight the transition from the late Republic to the early Empire, a historical phase which is ideal for asking questions regarding the emergence, consolidation and disappearance of pictures. A more thorough analysis shows that the late Republic is in many areas an almost imageless time, which will be replaced in the second half of the 1st century BC by a nearly explosive increase in imagery of various media. The newly established pictures are particularly connected with the Roman institution of the convivium. While the historical, socio-political, and cultural developments of this time were always given considerable attention, the engagement with images and their distribution has never been explicitly or comprehensively examined. In order to do justice to the extensive volume of material, the proposed study will approach the issue methodically in two ways. The first part is dedicated to domestic imagery, which relates especially to the convivium. Using case studies, this section will trace the development of pictorial imagery from the late Republic to the early Empire and address questions of production and consumption, relative frequency, differences in media, and the contexts of their use and display. The second part will focus on the production of arretine sigillata, a class of material never systematically studied from a detailed pictorial perspective. Part two will serve not only as the first thorough investigation of this material, but will also generate new questions and answers, offering a fresh perspective on the pictorial habit in the period under discussion. Whereas part one deals with the development of imagery in general, part two is devoted specifically to detailed image-studies.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professor Dr. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill