The Alexander Mosaic: Stories of Victory and Defeat (Cambridge Studies in Classical Art and Iconography) - Tapa dura

'This is a rich, subtle, well-researched, fair, and often convincing study ... [It] is essential reading for any serious student of Greek art in general and the Alexander Mosaic in particular.' American Journal of Archaeology

This book focuses on one of the richest, most complex and visually stunning monuments of classical antiquity. Contributing to a vast tradition of scholarship, which dates back to the discovery of the Mosaic in 1831, Ada Cohen here engages with, but departs from, a core of positivist assumptions that characterize this body of literature. In this study, she examines the Mosaic as it may have functioned in two different contexts, first as a Greek painting of the fourth century BC, and then as a Roman mosaic of c. 100 BC. A variety of interpretive issues regarding history and art history are examined, suggesting broader implications for the study of ancient monuments.