[.ca] Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture: Figural Motifs in ... (ISBN 0299149803)

Welcome addition to meager corpus on Hellenistic sculpture:
Prof. Linda Jones Roccos (City University of New York), in: American Journal of Archaeology 102 (1998) 446-447: Here is a most welcome addition to the meager corpus of informative works on Hellenistic sculpture. The monuments discussed provide an amazing view of little-known sites such as Chryse in the Troad, Alabanda in Caria, and Sagalassos in Pisidia. This is an extremely thoughtful book, with comprehensive bibliographies, lengthy descriptions, and thorough discussions of each monument, in addition to a detailed index and plentiful illustrations. More than 100 pages of catalogue entries provide the essentials of date, shape, size, order, and extant sculptures for each monument. Discussions for each entry provide background information on the ancient literary sources as well as excavation and publication histories. \oWebb's\c purpose is threefold: to examine how figural sculpture was used, to determine patterns of usage, and to gain understanding as to why figural motifs were employed. She believes that the motifs were of paramount importance and indicate a strong religious component. Webb wisely emphasizes the interdependence of sculpture and architecture and most fortunately considers both together. There are effective tables for a chronological view of types of buildings (temple, altar, civic, domestic, cultic, heroa). The Hellenistic period saw an increasingly wide variety of locations for sculpture, such as column drums and shafts, captials, pedestals,...and these are treated effectively. In addition to the basic background and descriptive information about the sculptures from each site, Webb discusses problems in dating and identifying the monuments. A particular strength of the work is Webb's competent over-all discussion of each monument, covering architectural elements and pottery deposits as well as the sculptural finds. Altogether, this volume is a most useful and informative work.

Place to start for sculpture on \oHellenistic\c architecture:
Prof. Gary Reger (Trinity College), in: New England Classical Journal 25.3 (February 1998): In Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture, Pamela Webb aims to assemble in one place all the instances of sculpture that adorned buildings on the Aegean islands or in western Asia Minor in the Hellenistic period. In this she succeeds admirably. Her 110 page "List of Sites" covers every major building at every major site. The entries are divided up by region and by site within region. For each site she provides a list of builidngs which carried, or can be argued to have carried, sculpture, giving their date, size, order, and other basic information; a brief description of the extant sculpture, including provenance and present location; and a bibliography. Her discussion of each sculptural program gives special attention to the themes and motifs behind the sculpture and reviews particular problems, to which Webb occasionally offers her own solutions. The vast majority of the sculpture she discusses is illustrated with photographs of high quality in the plates at the end of the book. Webb's book is now the place to start for anyone interested in sculpture on architecture in the Hellenistic period. Webb's discovery that the types of buildings preferred and the nature of architectural decoration changed around the end of the third century BC is, historically speaking, surely the most important result of her work. It adds another element - all the more welcome as coming from the art historical direction - to the impressive list of important changes that mark the end of the third century.

Excellent overview of \oHellenistic\c architectural sculpture:
Prof. Barbara A. Barletta (University of Florida), in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 8.5 (1997) 493-495: In this succinct and lucid exposition of figural motifs in Hellenistic architecture, Pamela Webb accomplishes exactly what she sets out as her task in the introduction. Her first goal is to demonstrate how figural sculpture was used. Thus \oshe\c establishes a classification of buildings, as religious, civic, domestic, and cultic and commemorative. She also includes here a discussion of the orders used and a short section on Hermogenes, the most famous architect of the period. In the next chapter, she locates sculpture on the individual architectural members, moving from \ocolumn\c drums and pedestals to akroteria. Chapter 4 then treats motifs dividng them generally into non-narrative and narrative themes. Her second and third goals, to elucidate patterns of use over time and the meaning of figural ornamentation, are addressed in the discussions above and developed further in the conclusions. Part 2 of this book provides a documentation of the material. Full descriptions of the architectural and sculptural remains are presented in geographical arrangement from northern to southern Anatolia, the Aegean Islands, and Cyprus, and from earliest to latest within each site. It is in this section that Webb discusses the problems and controversies surrounding the monuments, particularly their reconstructions and dates. As a result of its clear organization, with thorough and up-to-date bibliography, this book represents a handy and important reference. It is well illustrated, in several cases using the author's own photographs, and includes almost all the necessary plans and reconstructions. The book certainly provides the reader with an excellent overview of architectural sculpture in the "heart of the Hellenistic world".

An indispensable reference:
Prof. E. L. Anderson (Lansing Community College), in: Choice - Current Reviews for Academic Libraries (April 1997): This indispensable reference and thorough summary of mostly French and German reports and \oWebb's\c interpretations and observations will thrive and be a foundation for future work. Fine index, thorough footnotes and bibliography, clear outline and arrangement of material,and articulate paragraphs.