I’m surprised that it wasn’t until very recently, and in respect to her pending retirement, that I first mentioned Mary Beard here; for she really does rank up there amongst my most favorite people. In my Twitter life – now forsaken – I followed her avidly (and even went into bat for her when necessary!).
For those unacquainted, this annotated “talk” piece in The New York Times Magazine (subscription) is as good an introduction as any to the person and particularly to the very special art of delving into the ancient world and learning the lessons it can teach, even be they about how not to be. Also, I take this opportunity to make mention of her new book, entitled Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern, due out later this year.
[…]In this book—against a background of today’s “sculpture wars”—Mary Beard tells the story of how for more than two millennia portraits of the rich, powerful, and famous in the western world have been shaped by the image of Roman emperors, especially the “Twelve Caesars,” from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian. Twelve Caesars asks why these murderous autocrats have loomed so large in art from antiquity and the Renaissance to today, when hapless leaders are still caricatured as Neros fiddling while Rome burns. […]
Princeton University Press (2021)
Published in the UK on September 28th, 2021, and in the US on October 12th.
Videos of The Sixtieth A. W. Mellon Lectures in Fine Arts at the National Gallery of Fine Arts, Washington D.C. held in 2011, and on which Mary’s book is based may be found here (scroll down to the 60th lecture series). A decade old, but resonating in a new light considering the ongoing – and global – controversies surrounding statues and memorials of historical figures with – mildly put – tainted images. And, not to mention, a growing gallery of populist autocratic figures running amok from one end of the world to the next – until recently even in the US capital. To think, as Mary speaks, a much finer figure of a man was in power, and one could almost believe the promises of an ever-evolving democracy. These videos, a great find on my behalf, I must say! And just a taster before the (belated) publication in extended book form.