Beyond Iconography: Materials, Methods, and Meaning in Ancient Surface Decoration

This volume presents a spectrum of current research on ancient surface decoration (painting mosaic, and stuccowork/plasterwork) that offers new avenues of exploration and directions of inquiry. The collected essays draw from a wide range of disciplinary frameworks and integrate material analysis, the study of technical characteristics, the investigation of literary and archaeological evidence, and the interpretation and reconstruction of iconographic programs. Geographically, the papers focus on paintings from the Mediterranean world, including examples from the Bronze Age Aegean, the Hellenistic Levant, and Roman Campania and Greece. Exciting work on Classical Maya paintings in Guatemala augment the case studies from the Mediterranean region and provide an important opportunity for cross-cultural comparisons of ancient artistic and cultural practices as well as modern analytical approaches. By offering a wide chronological and geographic panorama, this volumes expands existing research on ancient surface decoration and aims to secure a broad and variable foundation for continued work.

Sarah Lepinski holds a PhD in classical and Near Eastern archaeology from Bryn Mawr College. She specializes in ancient and medieval surface decoration and her research interests encompass ancient materials, artistic practices and processes, the historiography of ancient art, and cultural heritage conservation and preservation. Recent publications include the "Roman Interior Design" in the forthcoming volume A Companion to Greek and Roman Science, Medicine, and Technology (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015). Susanna McFadden holds a PhD in art history from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently an assistant professor of Greek and Roma Art at Fordham University. She specializes in the visual culture of Roman Egypt as well as the spatial and ritual dynamics of late antique figural wall paintings. Recent publications include The Art of Empire: The Roman Frescoes and Imperial Cult Chamber in Luxor Temple (Yale University Press, 2015).