13th June 2019. Warwick University Campus – Oculus Building OC0.01

Coins and Visual Media: Influences, Connections and Intersections

Scholarly research on coin iconography has traditionally focused on the study of the origin and evolution of coin types, and on comparing the use of iconographic models or patterns across the coinages of different geographical areas or in different periods. More recent approaches have shifted their focus from the study of coins designs to the analysis of their relation with and impact on potential audiences of coin users, looking at imagery targeting specific categories of recipients (e.g. soldiers) through certain channels and within a given archaeological context (cf. O. Hekster, ‘Coins and messages: audience targeting on coins of different denominations’, in The Representation and Perception of Roman Imperial Power, Amsterdam 2003; N. Elkins, ‘Coins, contexts and an iconographic approach for the 21st century’, in Coins in Context I, Mainz 2009), and at the relation between ‘issuer’ and ‘user’ in the selection of coin designs (cf. F. de Callatay, P. Iossif and R. Veymiers (eds.), Typoi. Greek and Roman Coins seen through their Images, Liège 2018).

A field of research that is still under-investigated is the study of coin imagery in relation with other visual media. Coins were part of a broader world of communication media that sometimes used the same visual language as a result of shared iconographic sources and models of representation, or also to convey shared messages of identity and affiliation (cf. N. Elkins and S. Krmnicek (eds.), Art in the Round. New Approaches to Ancient Coin Iconography, Rahden 2014).

This interdisciplinary colloquium aims to gather contributions from scholars specialised in the study of different cultures (Greek, Celtic, Roman, Ancient Near East, Mediaeval) to compare examples of visual culture adopted on coins with imagery used on other media, both on monumental objects (sculpture, relief and architectural decoration) and on small objects of public as well as of private use (silverware, terracotta lamps, tiles, amphorae, tokens). The research questions addressed in the colloquium will try to gain a better insight into the processes of development and transformation of coin imagery and into the dynamics of transfer and re-adaptation of patterns of visual representation from coins to other media, and vice-versa. Special emphasis will be given to interdisciplinary case studies on the reuse of the same pattern in different socio-cultural contexts (e.g. Celtic and Roman, Roman and Persian, pagan and Christian) and in different periods (e.g. ancient and mediaeval), also looking at examples of later reception of classical models (e.g. Renaissance studies).

This event is generously sponsored by the Warwick Humanities Research Centre Fund and by the Warwick Connecting Cultures Group.

Programme (abstracts)

10:00 am

Dr Dario Calomino - Department of Classics and Ancient History, Warwick University

Welcome and introduction 

Royal and Imperial Imagery between the Near East and the Roman World

10:15 am

Dr Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis - Curator of Middle Easters Coins, Departments of Coins and Medals, British Museum

The Ancient Persian Kings: Royal Titles, Crowns and Divine Imagery

10:50 am

David Swan - PhD Candidate, Department of Classics and Ancient History, Warwick University

The Love of the Monstrous: How Celtic Coin Iconography Encouraged the Import of Classical Monsters to Britain

11:25 am

Dr Richard Hobbs - Weston Curator of Roman Britain, Departments of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum

Coins, Kingship and Gold and Silver Plate in Rome and Persia

12:00pm - Lunch Break

 

‘Functional’ Imagery in Greece and Rome’s Everyday Life

1:30 pm

Prof Mariangela Puglisi - Associate Professor in Classical Numismatics, University of Messina

Public and Private Iconography: Differences and Analogies between Coinages and Instrumentum Domesticumin Greek Sicily

2:05 pm

Prof Clare Rowan - Department of Classics and Ancient History, Warwick University

A Community of Images? Coins, Tokens and Everyday Objects in the Roman Empire

Sacred and Ceremonial Visual Language in the Roman East

2:40 pm

Prof Zahra Newby - Department of Classics and Ancient History, Warwick University

Celebrating Festivals in the Public Imagery of Perge in Pamphylia

3:15 pm - Coffee Break

3:40 pm

Dr Marguerite Spoerri Butcher - Research Fellow, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Miletus and the Sanctuary of Didyma: Coin Iconography, Architecture and Epigraphy

 

The Aftermath and Reception of Rome

4:15 pm

Dr Rory Naismith - Lecturer, King’s College London

Imago et Nomen: Representations of Authority and Early Medieval Coinage

4:50 pm

Dr Andrew Burnett - Honorary Professor, Institute of Archaeology, UCL

Coins on Buildings of Quattrocento Lombardy

5.30 pm

Prof Kevin Butcher - Department of Classics and Ancient History, Warwick University

Concluding Remarks and Discussion