The image of Roman emperors transmitted by classical tradition continues to influence how we see and judge them today. Our view of Roman emperors is strongly affected by how classical tradition depicts them – Caligula, Nero or Commodus, for instance, are poster-boys for megalomania. For posterity is the final arbiter of a ruler’s life and deeds, deeming them benign or evil regardless of his assertions and efforts.
Mot of the authors whose works have come down to us were members
of the Senate, or at least belonged to Rome’s intellectual and economic elite.
Some were part of the emperor’s inner circle, others had joined the political
opposition and may even have had cause to fear for their lives. This means that
their appraisals are anything but objective; often they recount mere hearsay or
rumours, or focus more on individual events than on the overall picture.
Compared to these tendentious, at times circumlocutory literary
recollections, coinage appears much more sober, business-like, and almost cold.
Throughout and after the end of classical antiquity, the images and
inscriptions on coins functioned as the most important medium of (imperial)
self-display. Devised by the emperor or his closest advisors, they cleverly
helped to present the ruler in the best possible light.
The exhibition confronts statements and appraisals from classical
antiquity – some of them contemporary, some written down several generations
after the emperor’s death – with coinage. The two sources differ greatly in
their origins and how they were formed and have very different aims. At times, they seem to clash and are difficult to reconcile. Although most
of what we know about the history of classical antiquity is based on them, this
reflects the gulf that separates personal opinions from official accounts.
The exhibition examines clichés and anecdotes and tries to
illustrate them with coins selected from the holdings of the Coin Cabinet, one
of the largest and most important collections in the world comprising around
600.000 objects including 90.000 Roman coins. The choice of rulers runs from
murderous Caligula and Nero, the arsonist of Rome, to the persecutors of
Christians, to Julian the Apostate, thus, well into the fourth century AD.
https://www.khm.at/en/visit/exhibitions/evil-emperors/
ET, À LA BOVERIE, EN BELGIQUE
Charles Szymkowicz, le monde et l'intime
- QUAND Du 10/12/2021 10:00 au 06/03/2022 18:00
- CATÉGORIES D'ÉVENEMENTS Exposition
A travers une sélection d’œuvres minutieusement opérée, Charles Szymkowicz présente deux grands axes de son travail qui dans un dialogue fertile racontent son rapport au monde et à l’intime. Des portraits d’êtres proches et d’artistes qui lui sont chers - qu’il s’agisse de peintres, de sculpteurs, de compositeurs, de poètes, d’écrivains ou de philosophes - font face aux émotions que lui commande notre monde tourmenté. Dans cet échange riche et bilatéral, l’artiste présente les deux faces parmi les différentes urgences de ses inspirations humanistes.
Une permanence cependant constitue un fil conducteur et anime l’artiste jusque dans ses plus profondes fibres créatrices. C’est le maintien, contre vents et marées, d’une originalité assumée souvent à contre-courant qui ne fait aucune concession et se présente au public dans une sincérité confondante et absolue.
Se donnant la gageure d’être lui-même dans un monde culturel où la mode fait office de dictat, Charles Szymkowicz éprouve une irrépressible et dévorante passion pour la figure de « l’artiste maudit ». Celui qu’on exclut pour ne pas répondre aux canons du temps, à l’approbation servile du plus grand nombre.
Marcher coûte que coûte vers la réalisation de soi-même et se présenter au monde à visage découvert est la route que l’artiste a choisi de suivre à l’égal des grands maîtres.
Visuel : Charles Szymkowicz, Autoportrait avec l’art contemporain, 2004, acrylique sur toile, 205 × 180 cm.
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