32 Ancient Studies
Religion in the Art of Archaic and Classical Greece Tyler Jo Smith Art and religion are both well-attested and much-studied aspects of ancient Greek life, yet their relationship is not perfectly understood. Religion in the Art of Archaic and Classical Greece examines not only how and where religious activity is presented visually at particular moments and in certain forms, but also what objects and images can tell us about the experiences and impressions of Greek religion. Tyler Jo Smith introduces readers to categories of religious practice (e.g., sacrifices, votive offerings, funerals), to the pertinent artistic evidence for them, and to a range of scholarly approaches. She combines the study of iconography and the examination of material objects with theoretical perspectives on ritual and performance. Richly illustrated with 245 halftones and seventeen color plates of mostly small-scale objects, the book argues for a visual and material tradition that is intended to express the ritualized practices and shared attitudes of religious life. Tyler Jo Smith is Professor of Mediterranean Art and Archaeology and the Director of the Interdisciplinary Archaeology Program at the University of Virginia.
June Archaeology, Classics “There are many books that serve as introductions to Greek art, and others to Greek religion, but there are none comparable to this. Tyler Jo Smith’s work fills a real gap by focusing simultaneously on the visualization of religion and on what art can tell us about religious experience.”—Jan Bremmer, University of Groningen
476 pages | 7 x 10 16 color, 216 b/w illus. ISBN 978-0-8122-5281-1 Hardcover $89.95s | £72.00 World Rights
