Date of Thesis

2016

Description

This thesis aims to explain the influence that art of the classical world extended on future periods in materials, technology, and political and social usage. This study explores the technology and function of the cameo in ancient Rome and Florence during the Renaissance, and the connections between the art of two distant societies. I focus on a comparison of cameos from the Late Republic and Early Imperial periods of ancient Rome with cameos from the Italian Renaissance, dating from the late 14th to 16th Century, specifically in Florence, in terms of form, function, and iconography. I concentrate on the Julian-Claudian Dynasty of Rome, and the Medici Family of Florence. Moreover, I demonstrate one instance of how tracing the evolution of one medium of art provides insight into the way in which art performed at multiple levels--aesthetic, political, and social--in society. While there has been much research on the art of engraving and carving gems, the connections between the glyptography of different periods have not been well explored and stand to be expanded upon (Schuman 69). This thesis serves to demonstrate the presence of the reintegration of classical themes during the apex of cameo art in the Florentine Renaissance.

Access Type

Honors Thesis (Bucknell Access Only)

Degree Type

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Classics & Mediterranean Studies

First Advisor

Janet Jones

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