Images of Statues in Other Media

Representations of statues were often included in other artistic media, such as mural paintings, glyptic art, coins, mosaics, and tableware. While these representations do not constitute precise reproductions of statues and, therefore, cannot be seen as fully trustworthy sources for the reconstruction of lost works, they provide valuable sources for the study of sculpture and can inform us about the use of statuary types, lost monuments, style, and taste. This chapter provides a survey of the types of representations of statues found in two dimensions and the range of media in which they occur. In addition, it discusses what images of statues in other media can contribute to our understanding of Roman sculpture, including the study of lost sculptural monuments, new insights into the Roman relationship to Greek sculpture, the recreation of aspects of the sculptural landscape, the longevity and political uses of sculptural types and individual, renowned statues, and the ancient interest in “living statues”