|
Item Number: 123995
Title: Piazza Armerina : la villa del Casale
Author: Pappalardo, Umberto ; Rosaria Ciardiello
Price: Not Available
ISBN: 9788877433725
Description: San Giovanni Lupatoto: Arsenale, 2013. 26cm., pbk., 244pp. with 150 color illus. Italian text. Summary: Mosaics in the Greek and Roman world were one of the most representative and widespread arts, as witnessed by many square kilometres of mosaic floors installed from Syria to Greece, Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Gallia, Britannia, Germany and Helvetia, from Dalmatia to Italy. One of the best preserved and most significant sites for the study of mosaics is undoubtedly the Villa del Casale at Piazza Armerina in Sicily. Its detailed ground plan and sumptuous decorations rank alongside the major Imperial residences, such as Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli and the Palace of Diocletian in Split. The complex, that seems to be the outcome of a unitary architectural project, is embellished by a mosaic decoration measured an impressive 3500 square metres that is one of the largest known. The colossal compositions were perhaps made by north-African rather than Roman masters or those from the eastern provinces. Their high artistic quality emerges in the interweaving of the various episodes, the bold perspectives, the bodily torsions, perspective views and chiaroscuro ensuring plasticity for the bodies, revealing a return to Severian art rather than adhesion to the new principles of metaphysical and transcendent expressionism. There is also the lively multicolour taste that seems to be characteristic of the Roman provinces in Africa. (^Forthcoming^)
We regret to inform you that this title is no longer available.
Please contact us if you need additional assistance.
P.O. Box 3904, Kingston, New York 12402 US
Phone: 845-331-8519
Fax: 845-331-0852
Email: michael@artbooks.com