The Lincoln-Omaha Society of the Archaeological Institute of America presents a lecture by Tyler Jo Smith, associate professor at the University of Virginia, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 in Bessey Hall, Room 102. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Smith’s lecture, “From Hamilton to Hercules: Greek Vases in Popular Culture,” will explore modern perception of ancient Greek vases.
Despite the growing interest in the history of collecting, relatively little has been written about the visual reception of ancient Greek vases. The colorful vases produced in Athens and elsewhere in classical times are featured regularly in modern visual representations.
From the 18th century to the present day, vases have made their way into paintings, prints and crockery, as well as films, jewelry and clothing. The famous late 18th century British diplomat and antiquarian Sir William Hamilton, can be seen in portraiture posed alongside the vases in his collection; yet Disney’s 1997 film Hercules features the same kinds of objects as indicators of a ‘real’ ancient setting.
This lecture traces the development of Greek vases in contemporary settings with particular attention to the social and artistic contexts in which they have been used.
Smith is associate professor of classical art and archaeology at the University of Virginia. She holds degrees from Oxford University and Davidson College. Her areas of specialization are Greek vase painting and iconography, the art and archaeology of performance, the art and archaeology of religion and Anatolian archaeology. Her current publication projects are “The Art of Greek Religion” (University of Pennsylvania Press), “Greek Vases: Art, Society, and Meaning” (Cambridge University Press) and “Sir John Sloane’s Greek Vases” (Archaeopress).
Smith’s lecture is sponsored by UNL, the Department of Art and Art History and the Lincoln-Omaha Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.
