Reflections on past Lectures, Conferences and Symposiums:

International conference on Roman sarcophagi in Berkeley, Fall 2009

sarcophagi

Flesh Eaters Symposium

Flesh Eater Symposium





FLESH EATERS

[sarcophagus, pl. sarcophagi — L. sarcophagus, Gr. sarkofavgoj, orig. adj., f. savrx, sarko-, flesh + -favgoj, eating.] 1. A kind of stone reputed among the Greeks to have the property of consuming the flesh of dead bodies deposited in it, and consequently used for coffins.

Held Friday and Saturday, September 18th and 19th 2009, in the auditorium of the Berkeley Art Museum. Organized by T.J. Clark and Chris Hallett, the conference centered on the question of how we interpret the distinctive imagery carved on Roman sarcophagi, some of the most beautiful and astonishing works to come from the ancient world.

Gathering scholars from Germany, Italy, England, Canada, and the United States, the conference features a keynote address by Paul Zanker, whose recent book on mythological sarcophagi, Mit Mythen leben (Living with Myth), has propelled these neglected objects into the spotlight, reminding art- and cultural historians alike of their centrality for understanding Roman art and its reception in later periods.



At left, top: Detail of a colossal battle sarcophagus (the so-called "Great Ludovisi Sarcophagus"). Rome, ca. 250-260 ad. Marble, 5' high. In Palazzo Altemps, Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome. [Photo: Mont Allen]

At left, middle: Professor Chris Hallett (back towards us), with Mont Allen to his right, at the roundtable discussion in the East Asian Library on the last afternoon of the Flesh Eaters Symposium in September 2009. At the head of the table, roundtable respondent Mary Beard (Cambridge University). [Photo Erin Babnik]

At left, below: Professors Chris Hallett and Tim Clark (bottom right), with Mont Allen slightly further in the background, listening to Dr. Barbara Borg (Exeter University) speaking at the Flesh Eaters Symposium in the Berkeley Art Museum. [Photo: Erin Babnik]