Persia and the West
An Archaeological Investigation of the Genesis of Achaemenid Art
John Boardman
|
In the 6th century BC, with no local tradition to guide them, the early kings of the Achaemenid Persian empire, Cyrus the Great and Darius, had to devise new styles in monumental architecture and sculpture with which to decorate their capital cities and express their mastery of the known world. A homogeneous style was created from the idioms of the many new subject peoples — Ionian Greeks, Lydians, Mesopotamians and Egyptians. This book traces these sources and explores the way that traditional Achaemenid motifs and styles also permeated the empire.
The Achaemenid Persian experiment was unique in antiquity, and it was successful for as long as the empire lasted. Even after Alexander the Great brought about its downfall, it continued to influence the arts from Greece to India. This is a record of the brilliant evolution of an artificial yet unified style, unmatched in the history of the art and archaeology of the Old World.
Also by John Boardman:
The World of Ancient Art
The Archaeology of Nostalgia: How the Greeks
Re-created their Mythical Past
Greek Gems and Finger Rings: Early Bronze Age to
Late Classical
The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade
The History of Greek Vases: Potters, Painters and Pictures
The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity |
|  |  | | | | ISBN 050005102X | | ISBN-13 978-0500051023 | | | | 26.0 x 18.9 cm | | Hardback | | 256pp | | 295 illustrations | | First published 2000 | | | | £36.00 | | | |  | | | | 
|
|
For news of our new and forthcoming
publications please click here |
