18.97.9.170
PAINTINGS OF THE "PERSEPHONE TOMBS": MULTIPLICITY OF ARTISTIC INFLUENCES IN THE ALEXANDRIAN FUNERARY ART OF THE ROMAN PERIOD
Reviews
Readers community rating
0.0 (0 votes)


Views
442


Downloads
86
Date of publication
01.02.2018
Public year
2018
ISSN
2618-7302
PAINTINGS OF THE "PERSEPHONE TOMBS": MULTIPLICITY OF ARTISTIC INFLUENCES IN THE ALEXANDRIAN FUNERARY ART OF THE ROMAN PERIOD
Annotation
This study addresses a problem of multiple artistic influences on Alexandrian funerary art of the Roman period in Egypt via iconographic programs of two so-called Tombs of Persephone (Kom el-Shokafa necropolis) dating back to late 1st – early 2nd cc. A.D. They belong to a popular Alexandrian architectural type of rectangular niche below gabled pediment. Carved sarcophagi are attached to the back walls of the tomb. Two registers of figurative paintings occupy the space of three walls above the sarcophagi. A Hellenizing Persephone cycle is depicted in the lower register, while three Egyptianizing scenes are located in the upper one. This study argues that the “bilingualism” of the iconographic programs of the Tombs of Persephone was not meant as a simple combination of Greek and Egyptian versions of the same “text”. Instead, their meanings are complementary: Hellenizing scenes express connotations of resurrection and happy Afterlife, while Egyptianizing compositions visually support funerary cult and rituals.
About authors
Valeria Kuvatova
research fellow
Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation,
Полная версия доступна только подписчикам
Подпишитесь прямо сейчас