Roman art. An american's view

Anna S. Garbedian Professor in the Humanities (emeritus) at Columbia University, in the past forty years has published eleven books and more than one hundred articles and long reviews. Trained as a classicist, lawyer, and art historian, he long ago moved beyond his base in Greek and Roman art to examine the effect of the historiographic tradition on the interpretation of artwork, to define narrative strategies in ancient and medieval visual imagery, and to investigate the interpersonal relationships in post-Renaissance portraits among the subject, the artist, and the viewer. And always, his attention has been drawn to the analysis of the beholder's active share in the reception of works of visual art, whereby their meaning is shaped and appropriated by viewers of the time of creation, and subsequently.
For him the study of artworks in and through history, their careful visual apprehension, and their exposition, both orally in teaching and in writing to a larger public constitute a seamless web of interactive functions, fundamental to the role of art historian. In that capacity, the visual delight and stimulation offered to the eye and mind transcend personal experience, without which there cannot be any valid interpretative activity, and imposes on that experience the need to share it in a disciplined, well-founded manner with others. Perhaps it is that motive that so energized Brilliant's writing: to be so attentive to the stories told to make sense of the world, and to the images of ourselves, provided by us in person and portrayed by artists that establish the realities of our social existence and make them worthy of consideration. Characteristic excerpts of his work, included in this volume, should encourage the reader to read more deeply to discover the variety of the approaches used, and thereby serve as a model for the exploration of possibilities that lead to independent judgement and action.