Ways of Seeing: On Temples and Their Terracottas in Republican Rome (20 min)

Presenters

Fay Glinister, Cardiff University

Abstract

In central Italy architectural terracotta sculptures have been ascribed multiple meanings in multiple contexts: They are seen to act as expressions of elite ideals, as markers of civic and social identities, as statements of participation in shared mythic communities. More recently scholars have begun to focus on them as the nexus between these elements and the ephemeral rituals undertaken within, around, and sometimes between temples. This paper will consider the ways in which architectural terracottas interacted with other kinds of decorative and design elements to help channel and direct religious experiences. It will reflect on the idea that architectural terracottas (which typically represent the only surviving evidence for the decorative schema of temple buildings) were merely one part of a wider sacred complex, were never viewed in isolation by worshippers and visitors, and sometimes perhaps not “seen” at all.

  AIA-3H