This hybrid workshop, hosted in Oxford with an online audience via Zoom, addressed unresolved questions about the identity of Parthian art and its complex relationship with the classical tradition. Ranging from the origins of the Arsacid dynasty in the 3rd century BC to the emergence of a new visual culture under Sasanian rule in the 3rd century AD, this workshop will bring together a panel of international experts to consider how Parthian art connected with the art traditions of Hellenistic Asia and the Roman Empire. We will consider different media, including sculpture, coins, and luxury art, and use recent discoveries and fresh research to cast new light on old problems, including the issue of whether Parthian art even existed as a coherent phenomenon.

Funding for this event was very generously provided by Richard Beleson in honour of Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis.

See the full programme here.DAY 1Part 1Prof Peter Stewart, CARC, University of OxfordWelcome and IntroductionDr Henry Colburn, Cooper Union, New YorkGreek style and the problem of Parthian artProf Lucinda Dirven, Radboud Universiteit, NijmegenParthian art as a non-stylistic phenomenon in the Arsacid EmpirePart 2Prof Stefan Hauser (Universität Konstanz)Appropriateness: some thoughts about style in the later Arsakid EmpireProf Matthew P. Canepa (University of California, Irvine)Parthian art and architecture and the post-Hellenistic world: an agonistic co-creationDr Fabrizio Sinisi (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna)Parthian art, Arsacid art, or art(s) under the Parthians? Naming things (before trying) to understand themNew finds of Late Hellenistic sculpture from Qalatga Darband in Iraqi KurdistanProf Irene Bald Romano (University of Arizona) and Dr John MacGinnis (University of Cambridge)DAY 2Part 3Prof Pierfrancesco Callieri (Università di Bologna)Travelling craftsmanship in non-Mediterranean HellenismDr Gunvor Lindström (German Archaeological Institute, Berlin)The Denavar Bowl and the problem of Greek Style in the Arsakid EmpireDr Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (Curator Emerita, British Museum, London)Parthian internal rivalries and encounters with RomePart 4Professor Barbara Kaim (University of Warsaw)Stucco decoration in Parthian architectureProf Ted Kaizer (Durham University)The Hellenism of the Desert CitiesProf Rubina Raja (Aarhus University)The Palmyrene ‘Problem’: Palmyra’s role in discussions about Graeco-Roman and Parthian ArtDr Blair Fowlkes Childs (New York)Away from ‘Parthian art’? Glimpses of northern and western influence on sculptures from Dura-Europos and Palmyra

'Art under the Seleukid Empire: New Perspectives' took place on 28-29 September 2023, with an in-person audience at Wolfson College Oxford and online participation via Zoom. An international line-up of speakers addressed different aspects of the character of art under the rule of the Hellenistic Seleukid dynasty. The event was kindly supported by Wolfson College and Tony Michaels. Most of the presentations are included in these recordings.

See the full programme here.DAY 1Part 1Prof Peter Stewart (CARC, University of Oxford)IntroductionProf Stephanie Langin-Hooper (Southern Methodist University, Dallas)The Seleucid Empire as Seen through Miniature Objects: Cultural Negotiation and Social Change in the Coins, Seals, and Figurines of Hellenistic BabyloniaProf Matthew Canepa (University of California, Irvine)Seleucid Art as Iranian Art: Seleucid Art, Architecture and Urbanism and the Formation of New Perso-Iranian Imperial Visual and Spatial CulturesPart 2Prof Vito Messina and Prof Carlo Lippolis (Università di Torino/CRAST)New Perspectives on Research at Seleucia on the TigrisDr Roberta Menegazzi (Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi di Torino per il Medio Oriente e l'Asia)Thoughts on the Dating of the Terracotta Figurines from Seleucia on the TigrisDAY 2Both parts of dayDr Alex McAuley (University of Auckland)Imitation or Innovation? Revisiting the Art of Seleukid Royal WomenProf Rolf Strootman (Utrecht University)Dynastic Visual Culture(s) in the Seleukid WorldDr Gunnar Dumke (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg)Seleukid Portraits – 30 Years AfterDr Simon Glenn (University of Leeds)Art After the Seleucids: The Numismatic Evidence from Bactria and Beyond

'Classical Art and Ancient India', a hybrid workshop supported by the Bagri Foundation, was the first event in CARC's #AncientArtConnections initiative as well as building upon the Gandhara Connections project. The workshop brought together invited international speakers and a worldwide audience to address a topic very closely related to Gandhara and vital for placing classical art in its global context: the question of how much mutual artistic exchange occurred between other parts of India, Greece and Rome in antiquity, and what we stand to learn by studying their art traditions alongside each other.

Read workshop abstract here.
Speakers' abstracts now downloadable here.
Workshop programme downloadable here.

Watch the videos of the presentations and discussions below.

DAY 1

Introduction
Keynote lecture by William Dalrymple,  From Berenike to Ajanta: The Romano-Egyptian Connection to the Early Buddhist Art of South and Central Asia

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Poster Presentation
Eleni Hasaki (University of Arizona) and Diane Harris Cline (George Washington University): Network Visualizations of Beazley's ABV and ARV Datasets: The Shape Sectors and Influential Artisans in the Athenian Kerameikoi
26th September 2022Session OneDr Peter Stewart (Director, Classical Art Research Centre)Welcome and IntroductionDr Dyfri Williams (Centre de Recherches en Archéologie et Patrimoine, Université libre de Bruxelles)Beazley, BAPD and BeyondProf Caspar Meyer (Bard Graduate Center, New York)Beazley the CraftsmanProf John Oakley (College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA)Beazley in the ClassroomSession TwoProf Corinna Reinhardt (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)Iconographic Studies and Digital Image Recognition: The Important Role of Beazley’s Photo ArchiveProf Cécile Colonna (INHA, Paris)Beazley’s Method and the Ancient and Modern Life of VasesSession ThreeProf Robin Osborne (University of Cambridge)Beazley and Artistic Personalities27th September 2022Session FourDr Thomas Mannack (CARC, University of Oxford)Beazley's Painters and their FavouritesProf Sheramy Bundrick (University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL)Personal or Strictly Business? Creativity and Commerce in the Athenian Potters' QuarterDr Jasper Gaunt (Curator of Ancient Art, The Al Thani Collection, Paris)Potter and Bronze-Smith in Classical Athens: Beazley's Potter and Painter revisitedProf Amy Smith (University of Reading)Late Black Figure Festival WareDr Diana Rodríguez Pérez (CARC, University of Oxford)Leveraging Beazley’s Legacy for the Study of Athenian Figure-Decorated Pottery in the Iberian Peninsula: ‘Heirloom’ Vases in Iberian Tombs and SettlementsProf Kathleen Lynch (University of Cincinnati)Concluding response and discussion

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Poster Session
Textile Finds from the Rhineland, First to Fourth Centuries AD: Roman Customs and Fashion in the North of the Empire - Dr Petra Linscheid (University of Bonn)26th September 2019Session OneDr Peter Stewart (Director, Classical Art Research Centre)Welcome and IntroductionDr Susanna Harris (University of Glasgow)Textile Wealth of the Archaic Greek Goddesses: A Textile Technology Approach to RepresentationSession TwoDr Stella Spantidaki (Director, ARTEX, Athens)Poikila Himatia: Textile Embellishment in Classical GreeceSession ThreeDr Dimitra Andrianou (National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens)Furniture Textiles in Classical and Hellenistic Interiors of the Mediterranean World Dr Audrey Gouy (Marie Curie Research Fellow, University of Copenhagen/University of Oxford)Figure-Decorated Textiles in Classical Etruscan Art Session FourDr Jónatan Ortiz-Carcía (University of Alcalá)Painting Eternity: Decorated Shrouds from Roman Egypt27th September 2019Session FiveDr Amandine Mérat (Independent Egyptologist and textile specialist)When Graeco-Roman Allegories Meet So-Called Coptic Weavers: The Representation of Gaia and the Four Seasons on 1st Millennium AD Egyptian TextilesSession SixDr Elsa Yvanez (University of Copenhagen)Textile Dimensions: Art, Iconography and Crafts in Late Antique NubiaSession SevenJennifer Moldenhauer (Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin)Woven Adventures: Depictions of Heroes on Egyptian Textiles from Late Antiquity and the First Centuries of Muslim Rule (This presentation is not available as a podcast.)Dr Regula Schorta (Abegg Foundation, Riggisberg)Late Antique’ Textiles from Central AsiaSession EightDr Peter Stewart (CARC, Oxford)An Extensible Art: Yingpan Man’s Tunic and its Roman Connections

27th September 2018Session OneDr Peter Stewart (Director, Classical Art Research Centre)Welcome and IntroductionProf Chris Gosden (University of Oxford)From Celtic to Classical: Contrasting Sensibilities and Styles?Session TwoDr Martin Pitts (University of Exeter)Objects in Graves in S. Britain and N. Gaul, c. 100 BC - AD 100: Genealogy, Connectivity, and the Inter-Artefactual DomainDr John Creighton (Univerisity of Reading)Augustan and Other Classical Imagery in Post-Caesarian Britain - Contested Mechanisms and MeaningsSession ThreeDr Fraser Hunter (National Museums of Scotland) Read by Dr Peter StewartChanging the Past and the Present: Metalwork and the Transformation of Insular and Classical art, 100 BC - AD 400(ish)Prof Miranda Aldhouse-Green (University of Cardiff)Style and Schema in Romano-British Cult IconographySession FourDr Eleri Cousins (University of St Andrews)Movements of Art through Time and Space: Asking Old Questions and Finding Strange AnswersConcluding comments 27th September28th September 2018Session FiveDr Susan Walker ( University of Oxford)Enamelling: The Art of the Barbarians in the OceanSession SixProf Ian Haynes (University of Newcastle)Reshaping Visual Culture: Connected Case Studies from Maryport, CumbriaDr Meg Boulton (University of York)Reflections of Rome and Romanitas in early Anglo-Saxon ArtSession SevenDr Susan Youngs (formerly British Museum)What Past, Which Inheritance in Post-Roman Celtic Art?Prof Robin Fleming (Boston College)Do Things Made in Fifth-Century Britain Have an Ethnicity?Session EightProf Martin Henig (Oxford)Britain, Rome and the Continuity of British Art: 200 BCE to 800 CERound-table discussion and concluding comments 28th September

Download workshop programme28th September 2017Session OneDr Peter Stewart (Director, Classical Art Research Centre)Welcome and IntroductionProf Luca Giuliani (Humboldt-Universität, Berlin)Tales and Images of Polyphemus' Blinding: Ways of TransmissionSession TwoProf Katherine Dunbabin (McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario)The Transmission of Scenes from Menander in Graeco-Roman ArtSession ThreeDr. Alexandra Dardenay (Université Toulouse II Jean-Jaures - CNRS)The Migration of the Iconographic Theme of Aeneas in the Roman Occident: Vectors, Actors and ModalitiesMs Alison Pollard (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)The Everyday in the Epic: Extra-Homeric Imagery in Roman Iliadic FriezesSession FourProf Nikolaus Dietrich (Universität Heidelberg)Conceptualizing the Copy without an Original in Roman SculptureProf Bettina Bergmann (Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts)Pictorial Schemes as Bearers of Meaning29th September 2017Session FiveDr Arne Reinhardt (Universität Heidelberg)Transmission and the Replication Chain: The Mechanics of Clay and Plaster-based Reproduction in Graeco-Roman AntiquityDr Peter Stewart (CARC, University of Oxford)The Mysteriously Transmitted Grecian Touch': Hellenistic Art, Roman Sarcophagi, and Gandharan SculptureSession SixDr Will Wootton (King's College London)Response & Concluding Discussion

Prof Marian FeldmanStyle as a Fragment of the Ancient World: A View from the Iron Age Levant and Assyria 8th May, 2017

Download workshop programmeDr Peter StewartWelcome and IntroductionDr Helle HochscheidWorking the Makers or Making the Workers? Agency and Status in Athenian SculptureProf Andrew StewartIndividuality and Innovation in Greek Sculpture: A View from the Athenian AgoraProf Peter SchultzCollingwood, Agency, and the Archaeological Imagination: Style as Intention in Late Classical Attic SculptureDr Thomas MannackBeware of Athenians Signing PotsProf François LissarragueTransmission and Transformation of the Visual Repertoire: The Vase-Painter's ChoicesDr Eleni HasakiCraft Apprenticeships and Multi-Craft Competencies in Classical AntiquityDr Alain DuplouyThe Maker's Share in the Making of the Greek CityDr Serafina CuomoThe Foundry Cup

• Research in Classical Archaeology

Discussion between Sir John Boardman and Donna Kurtz on the subject of being classical archaeology researchers and academics and some of the challenges and opportunities they face.

• Introduction to Art of the Ancient World

Donna Kurtz and Sir John Boardman talk about Sir John's life, his career and experiences as a classical scholar and also the relationship works of art from different cultures around the ancient world have with one another.

• Treasures of Oxford - Athenian Wine Drinking Cup.

Sir John Boardman talks about a wine drinking cup made in Ancient Athens; he also talks about what we can learn from it about Ancient Greek culture and the kind of lifestyle the Greeks had.

• Studying Classical Gems - Classics Alumni Day 15th March 2014

Prof Sir John Boardman delivers his lecture on "Studying Classics Gems" as part of the Alumni day - "Classics from Helen to the Hijaz"

• The Relief Plaques of Eastern Eurasia and China - The Ordos Bronzes - video by Sir John Boardman