12 ἐκ τῶν πινάκων. Aristaenetus’ intervisual allusions to Philostratus’ art gallery
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Regina Höschele
Abstract
The erotic letters of Aristaenetus are replete with echoes of earlier texts, often in the form of verbatim quotations or slightly modified rewritings of full sentences or entire passages, which has led scholars to dismiss his work as that of an unoriginal plagiarist. Several recent studies have shown, however, that Aristaenetus’ allusive practice is a lot more sophisticated than previously recognised. Building upon these contributions, my paper investigates Aristaenetus’ intertextual engagement with one of his most important models, Philostratus, whose Imagines he repeatedly recalls through what we might term ‘intervisual allusions’. It is my contention that this Late Antique epistolographer, in whose letters descriptions (primarily of human beauty, but also of nature) play a major role, systematically infuses his text with Philostratean echoes to evoke the Imagines’ mimetic discourse, which significantly informs his own aesthetics of imitation. He even casts some of his characters as visitors to Philostratus’ picture gallery and describes a figure emblematic of his own art in terms that might be applied to Philostratus himself. Aristaenetus moreover restages Philostratean ekphrasis in an erotic context by presenting male or female objects of desire as though they were works of art contemplated by a spectator. Through a close analysis of passages modelled upon paintings described by Philostratus, I illustrate how Aristaenetus has absorbed the ekphrastic discourse of the Imagines into the epistolary framework of his own collection and self-consciously highlights his allusions to this Second Sophistic work through a marked emphasis on visuality.
Abstract
The erotic letters of Aristaenetus are replete with echoes of earlier texts, often in the form of verbatim quotations or slightly modified rewritings of full sentences or entire passages, which has led scholars to dismiss his work as that of an unoriginal plagiarist. Several recent studies have shown, however, that Aristaenetus’ allusive practice is a lot more sophisticated than previously recognised. Building upon these contributions, my paper investigates Aristaenetus’ intertextual engagement with one of his most important models, Philostratus, whose Imagines he repeatedly recalls through what we might term ‘intervisual allusions’. It is my contention that this Late Antique epistolographer, in whose letters descriptions (primarily of human beauty, but also of nature) play a major role, systematically infuses his text with Philostratean echoes to evoke the Imagines’ mimetic discourse, which significantly informs his own aesthetics of imitation. He even casts some of his characters as visitors to Philostratus’ picture gallery and describes a figure emblematic of his own art in terms that might be applied to Philostratus himself. Aristaenetus moreover restages Philostratean ekphrasis in an erotic context by presenting male or female objects of desire as though they were works of art contemplated by a spectator. Through a close analysis of passages modelled upon paintings described by Philostratus, I illustrate how Aristaenetus has absorbed the ekphrastic discourse of the Imagines into the epistolary framework of his own collection and self-consciously highlights his allusions to this Second Sophistic work through a marked emphasis on visuality.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: In limine
- 1 À rebours: intervisuality from the Middle Ages to classical antiquity 15
- 2 From image to theatrical play in Aeschylus’ Oresteia 33
-
Part II: Archaic and classical age
- 3 Homer and the art of cinematic warfare 81
- 4 Intervisuality in the Greek symposium 103
- 5 The protohistory of portraits in words and images (sixth–fifth century BCE): tyrants, poets, and artists 121
- 6 Looking at Athens through the lyric lens 149
- 7 The politics of intervisuality 171
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Part III: Hellenistic and imperial age
- 8 The goddess playing with gold 197
- 9 Intervisuality in declamation and sung poetry in imperial Greek cities 213
- 10 Intervisual allusions in Lucian, Dialogues of the Sea Gods 15 235
- 11 Was Philostratus the Elder an admirer of Ovidian enargeia? 255
- 12 ἐκ τῶν πινάκων. Aristaenetus’ intervisual allusions to Philostratus’ art gallery 283
-
Part IV: Pointing to Rome
- 13 Ordering the res gestae: observations on the relationship between texts and images in Roman ‘historical’ representations 305
-
Appendix
- List of contributors 335
- Index nominum et rerum notabilium 339
- Index locorum 345
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: In limine
- 1 À rebours: intervisuality from the Middle Ages to classical antiquity 15
- 2 From image to theatrical play in Aeschylus’ Oresteia 33
-
Part II: Archaic and classical age
- 3 Homer and the art of cinematic warfare 81
- 4 Intervisuality in the Greek symposium 103
- 5 The protohistory of portraits in words and images (sixth–fifth century BCE): tyrants, poets, and artists 121
- 6 Looking at Athens through the lyric lens 149
- 7 The politics of intervisuality 171
-
Part III: Hellenistic and imperial age
- 8 The goddess playing with gold 197
- 9 Intervisuality in declamation and sung poetry in imperial Greek cities 213
- 10 Intervisual allusions in Lucian, Dialogues of the Sea Gods 15 235
- 11 Was Philostratus the Elder an admirer of Ovidian enargeia? 255
- 12 ἐκ τῶν πινάκων. Aristaenetus’ intervisual allusions to Philostratus’ art gallery 283
-
Part IV: Pointing to Rome
- 13 Ordering the res gestae: observations on the relationship between texts and images in Roman ‘historical’ representations 305
-
Appendix
- List of contributors 335
- Index nominum et rerum notabilium 339
- Index locorum 345
