Description
Roman art and architecture have been admired and imitated throughout Western art history, by artists in the Italian Renaissance and during Neoclassicism, and by the American Founders including Thomas Jefferson. In the 20th century adherents included Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Clearly, the motives and purposes of those admirers were starkly different. In this talk we’ll consider the fascinating afterlife of Roman art and architecture, at how it has been adopted and adapted through history for its beauty, political associations, and power symbolism, and to legitimize ideas and ideologies rooted in admiration for Roman antiquity.