Descrizione

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Gutes Exemplar / Good copy. - A brilliant divertimento and a dextrous exercise in microcultural history, In the Image ofPriapus tells the story of some very special artefacts - phallic votive offerings, locally known as 'great toes' - collected from Isernia, a remote small town in southern Italy, and brought to London by Sir William Hamilton in 1784. From this event the book expands to consider the intellectual background to Hamilton's discovery and the discussion that developed, both in London and Italy, about the role of phallic simulacra in primitive religion, classical art and popular medicine. In the Image ofPriapus has important things to say about the interpretation of sexual symbols in art and religion, the problem of visual interpretation with particular reference to fetishism, comparative culture, and the growth of anthropological museum collections in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It will intrigue and fascinate anyone with an interest in cultural history, art history or aesthetics. ISBN 9780715626986