Parthian Art & the Graeco-Roman World

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