Focusing on the arrival of the human figure as a subject of art, Mary Beard examines the history of beauty in civilisation. Beginning with the Jericho painted skulls from 10,000 years ago, and the extraordinary figures of Ain Ghazal. It examines in depth the creativity that gave identity to ancient Egypt, where colossi of powerful rulers were also matched by the depictions of citizens and the wider population. From there, we explore the unprecedented art of the Greek revolution, where beauty and the perfection of the human figure set a benchmark for all Western art to come, and profoundly influenced the flowering of human sculpture in Rome. Finally, it moves to China to examine the vast army of Terracotta Warriors commissioned by the first emperor, and ends with the unexpected figure of Monk Wuxia, a mummified Buddhist monk created from the body of the monk himself.
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Praise for Mary Beard: She's pulled off that rare trick of becoming a don with a high media profile who hasn't sold out, who is absolutely respected by the academy for her scholarship ... what she says is always powerful and interesting * Guardian *An irrepressible enthusiast with a refreshing disregard for convention * Financial Times *Dynamically, wittily and authoritatively brings the ancient world to life -- Simon Sebag MontefioreWith such a champion as Beard to debunk and popularise, the future of the study of classics is assured * Daily Telegraph *Praise for SPQR: Fast-moving, exciting, psychologically acute, warmly sceptical -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *Vastly engaging ... a tremendously enjoyable and scholarly read -- Natalie Haynes * Observer *Sustaining the energy that such a topic demands for more than 600 pages, while providing a coherent answer to the question of why Rome expanded so spectacularly, is hugely ambitious. Beard succeeds triumphantly ... full of insights and delights ... SPQR is consistently enlivened by Beard's eye for detail and her excellent sense of humour * Sunday Times *Masterful ... This is exemplary popular history, engaging but never dumbed down, providing both the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life * Economist *Ground-breaking ... invigorating ... revolutionary ... a whole new approach to ancient history -- Thomas Hodgkinson * Spectator *
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Companion to the BBC series CIVILISATIONS

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781788160001
Publisert
2019-03-07
Utgiver
Vendor
Profile Books Ltd
Høyde
220 mm
Bredde
146 mm
Aldersnivå
01, G
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
160

Forfatter

Biographical note

Mary Beard is a professor of classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, and the classics editor of the TLS. She has world-wide academic acclaim. Her previous books include the bestselling, Wolfson Prize-winning Pompeii, The Parthenon, Confronting the Classics and SPQR. Her blog has been collected in the books It's a Don's Life and All in a Don's Day. She is in the 2014 top 10 Prospect list of the most influential thinkers in the world.