The visual and material culture of the Roman Empire provides an abundant record of encounters with or simply imaginings of foreign peoples. These images render visible complex formulations of ethnicity, social hierarchies, and power. This lecture surveys the ways in which imperial artists represented the peoples whom the Romans referred to as Aethiopians or Nubians (i.e., “Black” Africans) in a variety of visual media. The lecture also considers how and why these works have been (mis)interpreted or sometimes altogether ignored by ancient art historians, and proposes new ways of integrating them into future, critical histories of Roman art.
Professor Bell teaches courses on Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art, and architecture. He has excavated at sites in Italy and Tunisia and worked as a curatorial assistant at museums in Germany and Greece.
Co-Sponsored by UWM Classics Program, Department of Art History, and Department of Anthropology together with the Milwaukee Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.