Greek Art and Archaeology. Athens: Topography and Monuments (advanced seminar in collaboration with the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens)

The class focuses on the ancient city of Athens and its main monuments, from the geometric period to the late Antiquity. The Acropolis and the monuments archaeologically attested and recorded by literary sources within the sacred space will be investigated diachronically up to the rediscovery of the area after the independence war against the Ottoman Empire (1821-1832). All the main artistic evidence (statues, pinakes, vases, dedications, sacred buildings) will be discussed by looking at the preserved archaeological records and by reading literary sources, in particular book 1 of Pausanias' Periegesis. An advanced seminar of Athenian topography will be held in collaboration with the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens, at Athens next Spring.