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Storia dell´arte

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Presentazioni in pdf di tutta la storia dell’arte dalla Preistoria al primo Novecento

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Firenze (video)

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Santa Maria del Fiore: come è stata costruita la cupola? (tratto da Artemondo)

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a blog with video links

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Why is Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" considered a masterpiece? What's so special about Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man? How did Michelangelo's statue of David become an icon? If you're curious about art history, then you'll love these 6 TED-Ed Lessons by art historian James Earle. Watch the playlist:

For more art history, watch these TED-Ed Lessons. For more ideas from James Earle, check out Amor Sciendi.
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Why is Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" considered a masterpiece? What's so special about Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man? How did Michelangelo's statue of David become an icon? If you're curious about art history, then you'll love these 6 TED-Ed Lessons by art historian James Earle.

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in paintings

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Why babies in medieval paintings look like ugly old men

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Why are the babies in medieval art so ugly? Phil Edwards from Vox investigates.

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Corruption, wealth and beauty

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Corruption, wealth and beauty: The history of the Venetian gondola - Laura Morelli

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It’s hard to imagine Venice without the curious, banana-shaped gondolas that glide down the canals. How did these boats come to be the trademark transportation of Venice? Laura Morelli details the history of the gondola, explaining why these boats were needed, the painstaking pro…

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teenager

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Let's Begin...

Welcome to the world of Lucius Popidius Secundus, a 17-year old living in Rome in 73 AD. His life is a typical one of arranged marriages, coming-of-age festivals, and communal baths. Take a look at this exquisitely detailed lesson on life of a typical Roman teenager two thousand years ago.

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A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome - Ray Laurence

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Welcome to the world of Lucius Popidius Secundus, a 17-year old living in Rome in 73 AD. His life is a typical one of arranged marriages, coming-of-age festivals, and communal baths. Take a look at this exquisitely detailed lesson on life of a typical Roman teenager two thousand years ago.

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Pants (related to art)

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Mysteries of vernacular: Pants - Jessica Oreck

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From 4th Century Roman Saint Pantaleon to the trousers we wear on our legs, Jessica Oreck details the story of the word 'pants.'

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Virgil

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Why should you read Virgil’s “Aeneid”? - Mark Robinson

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In 19 BC, the Roman poet Virgil suffered heatstroke and died on his journey back to Italy. On his deathbed, he thought about the manuscript he had been working on for over ten years, an epic poem called the “Aeneid.” Unsatisfied with the final edit, he asked his friends to burn it. But they refu…

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The life of Spartacus

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In the Roman world, slaves and gladiators were at the bottom of the social ladder. Because of this, there is often little information about the individuals that made up these groups. Spartacus' revolt understandably made him well-known and a person of interest to the Romans, and often a figure of fear. However, even as an exception to the rule, there are no sources from Spartacus or the slave perspective for the events depicted in the video. It is based on material from the Roman point-of-view, which means that the perspective is generally also that of an upper-class male.

There are a number of references to Spartacus in pro-Roman sources, including two lengthier accounts from Appian (Civil Wars, 1.116-120) and Plutarch (Life of Crassus, 8-11), both written in the 1 st and 2 nd centuries AD and therefore between one or two hundred years after the revolt. Many of the events shown in the video can be found in these sources. The earliest accounts, written by men such as Varro and Sallust who lived through the conflict itself, are sadly very fragmentary. Some references, such as those in Cicero's speeches, are brief and serve mostly to show that Spartacus' name could be used as an insult or to inspire fear. Scholars over the years have attempted to reconcile these sources and patch them together to form as complete a picture as possible. This can be difficult, as some sources present a negative view of Spartacus, whereas others are unexpectedly positive. The historian Sallust ( Histories, 3.91) describes him as a leader possessed with great strength and courage and Plutarch ( Life of Crassus, 8.2) paints him as a wise leader. Within the various traditions, there are episodes that show Spartacus striving to be an effective leader and forge an army out of rebels and runaways.

The legendary escape/ambush via vine ropes from Mt Vesuvius can be found in multiple accounts (Plutarch's Life of Crassus, 9.1-3; Frontinus' The Stratagems and the Aqueducts of Rome. 1.5.21; Florus, 2.8.3-4; Orosius, 5.24.1) and the second escape in which the slaves tricked the Romans into believing corpses were their sentries shows that they were taking precautions in setting up proper camps (Sallust, Histories, 3.96; Frontinus, 1.5.22). Spartacus is recorded ordering his followers to manufacture weapons and armour. On a grislier note, Appian's Spartacus executes all prisoners and pack animals to expediate the movement of his army when they had decided to march on Rome (App. B.C. 1.117).

The important factor to remember when consulting the primary material is that there was not a unified approach to Spartacus. His story or reputation were often shaped according to the author's genre and motivations. The writers could be more concerned about what Spartacus and the revolt revealed about Rome than in telling the 'truth' about the gladiator himself. Plutarch may have been using Spartacus to critique the Roman subject of his biography - Crassus. Marcus Licinius Crassus, the man who finally defeated Spartacus, played an important role in the Late Republic and is worthy of further study in his own right. He was allegedly the richest man in Rome in his day and would form an infamous alliance (the so-called First Triumvirate) with Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar.

Without the slave perspective, it can be difficult to know why Spartacus or the slaves acted in the way that they did. Why didn't they escape Italy when they seemed to have the chance? Was it really because they wanted to continue to loot in Italy? Was it overconfidence? Why not start your own investigation? Brent Shaw's Spartacus and the Slave Wars is an excellent collection of material, including many primary sources, relating to Spartacus and slavery in the Late Republic (133-31 BC). For those looking for suggested readings and some archaeological remains on gladiators in general, look here. This article in particular provides a good discussion of the position of the gladiator in Roman society.

You can explore Spartacus' life more in the following podcasts:
In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg & guests

Biography (in three parts) from Latrobe University with Matt Smith and Dr Rhiannon Evans

The Partial Historians - a podcast about Ancient Rome which Fiona Radford cohosts with Peta Greenfield

The History of Ancient Greece with Ryan Stitt and Fiona Radford for a discussion of Greek and Roman slavery

Spartacus has become a popular culture icon, particularly from the 18 th century onwards. There are variety of interesting adaptations of his life to choose from if you wish to engage with his story in other formats. A reasonable list of ballet, plays, novels, films, and television programs can be found on Wikipedia. If you are interested in Spartacus' active 'afterlife', you can consult the following scholarly publications on Spartacus in novels and film.

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From enslavement to rebel gladiator: The life of Spartacus - Fiona Radford

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Spartacus was enslaved - one of millions taken from territories conquered by Rome to work the mines, till the fields or fight for a crowd's entertainment. Imprisoned for deserting the Roman Army, he and other enslaved people fought their way free and started a rebellion.

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Welcome to the world of Lucius Popidius Secundus, a 17-year old living in Rome in 73 AD. His life is a typical one of arranged marriages, coming-of-age festivals, and communal baths. Take a look at this exquisitely detailed lesson on life of a typical Roman teenager two thousand years ago.
Freeborn women in ancient Rome were citizens (cives) but could not vote or hold political office. Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by Roman historians. But while Roman women held no direct political power, those from wealthy or powerful families could and did exert influence through private negotiations. Exceptional women who left an undeniable mark on history range from the semi-legendary Lucretia and Claudia Quinta, whose stories took on mythic significance; fierce Republican-era women such as Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi and Fulvia, who commanded an army and issued coins bearing her image; women of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, most prominently Livia, who contributed to the formation of Imperial mores; and the empress Helena, a driving force in promoting Christianity.
Porticus of Livia: Begun by Augustus on the site of the house of Vedius Pollio ( q.v.) in 15 B.C., and finished and dedicated to Livia in 7 B.C. (Cass. Dio LIV.23; LV.8; Suet. Aug. 29; Ov. Fast. VI.639). It is represented on three fragments of the Marble Plan (10, 11, 109), and was situated on the north slope of the Oppius on the south side of the clivus Suburanus, between this street and the later baths of Trajan. The porticus was rectangular, about 115 metres long and 75 wide, with an outer wall and double row of columns within.
The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it was the largest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire, and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. It is the largest amphitheatre in the world.Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in 70 AD, and was completed in 80 AD under his successor and heir Titus.
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death. Women were not allowed prime seating at gladiator events (with rare, notable exceptions).

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Four sisters in Ancient Rome - Ray Laurence

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How did the young, wealthy women of Ancient Rome spend their days? Meet Domitia and her sister Domitia and her sister Domitia and her sister Domitia. Ray Laurence sketches the domestic life of leisure that these young girls lived, despite little recorded information on women from this otherwise well-documented era.

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a scientific explanation

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The scientific origins of the Minotaur - Matt Kaplan

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The myth of the Minotaur tells the story of an enraged beast forever wandering the corridors of a damp labyrinth, filled with a rage so intense that its deafening roar shakes the earth. But is this story just fiction, or an attempt of our early ancestors to make sense of the natural world? Matt…

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a brief history

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A brief history of religion in art - TED-Ed

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Before we began putting art into museums, art mostly served as the visual counterpart to religious stories. Are these theological paintings, sculptures, textiles and illuminations from centuries ago still relevant to us? Jeremiah Dickey describes the evolution of art in the public eye and explains how the modern viewer can see the history of art as an ongoing global conversation.