Carol C. Mattusch discusses the dating of bronzes based on criteria of technique and style, and considers technical innovations in the art of portraiture. Most controversially, she offers evidence that Greek artists cast bronzes in series based on a single model.

Freestanding bronze statuary was the primary mode of artistic expression in classical Greece, yet it was not until the nineteenth century that any original large statues of that period were unearthed. Although ancient literature has preserved information about the most famous Greek sculptors who worked in bronze, our perception of the art has been limited by the small number of extant originals from the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. there remain fewer than ten large cast bronze statues, a like number of bronze heads, an assortment of fragments, and some clay molds for casting. Carol Mattusch enriches our knowledge of this beloved but elusive art form in a comprehensive study of the style and techniques of bronze statuary during the Archaic (6th century B.C.) and Classical (5th century B.C.) periods.

For the general public and specialists alike, the Hellenistic period (323–31 BC) and its diverse artistic legacy remain underexplored and not well understood. Yet it was a time when artists throughout the Mediterranean developed new forms, dynamic compositions, and graphic realism to meet new expressive goals, particularly in the realm of portraiture. Rare survivors from antiquity, large bronze statues are today often displayed in isolation, decontextualized as masterpieces of ancient art. Power and Pathos gathers together significant examples of bronze sculpture in order to highlight their varying styles, techniques, contexts, functions, and histories. As the first comprehensive volume on large-scale Hellenistic bronze statuary, this book includes groundbreaking archaeological, art-historical, and scientific essays offering new approaches to understanding ancient production and correctly identifying these remarkable pieces. Designed to become the standard reference for decades to come, the book emphasizes the unique role of bronze both as a medium of prestige and artistic innovation and as a material exceptionally suited for reproduction. Power and Pathos is published on the occasion of an exhibition on view at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence from March 14 to June 21, 2015; at the J. Paul Getty Museum from July 20 through November 1, 2015; and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, from December 6, 2015, through March 20, 2016.

Historical and technical considerations in provenancing and collecting Greek, Etruscan, and Roman bronzes.

During the sixth and fifth centuries BC, Greek sculpture developed into a fine art. With the human figure as its main subject, artists worked to represent it in increasingly natural terms. This book explores the material aspects of Greek sculpture at a pivotal phase in its evolution. Considering typologies and function, an international team of experts traces the development of technical characteristics of marble and bronze sculpture, the choice of particular marbles in different areas, and the types of monuments that were created on the Greek mainland, the islands and the west coast of Asia.

Figural and non-figural supports are a ubiquitous feature of Roman marble sculpture; they appear in sculptures ranging in size from miniature to colossal and of all levels of quality. At odds with modern ideas about beauty, completeness, and visual congruence, these elements, especially non-figural struts, have been dismissed by scholars as mere safeguards for production and transport. However, close examination of these features reveals the tastes and expectations of those who commissioned, bought, and displayed marble sculptures throughout the Mediterranean in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Drawing on a large body of examples, Greek and Latin literary sources, and modern theories of visual culture, this study constitutes the first comprehensive investigation of non-figural supports in Roman sculpture. The book overturns previous conceptions of Roman visual values and traditions and challenges our understanding of the Roman reception of Greek art.