Art
For this assignment, I have chosen the Amphitheatre of Pompeii. I chose this, in particular, as Roman and Greek ancient architecture fascinates me as it still holds a lot of sway in modern design today. For instance, the Amphitheatre of Pompeii is majestic and vast in size; its structure, alone, is awe-inspiring when considering that it was built without our modern technology to aid its development. It would have been an extremely ambitious design then and still is, even today. In the book, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, Vol.1, the image that particularly attracts me is entitled Aerial view of the amphitheatre, Pompeii, Italy, ca. 70 BCE (Kleiner 165). The immediately noticeable detail is the structures round shape and its eye-like appearance with the inner circle assuming the role of the iris. This idea fascinates me since the nature of the work is an aerial view with holds a strong association with the idea of sight and angle and its connotations with the eyes are, therefore, palpable.
Another reason why this particular image attracts my attention is the closeness it shares with the University of Alabama football stadium in Tuscaloosa. These two structures, build centuries apart from one another, share a number of similarities; not least, their shape and design – both built to house sporting events and both designed to allow for the maximum view by spectators and sportsmen alike. The images of the Roman amphitheatres are commonplace and so this image, whilst relatively new to me, is similar to those I’ve seen before it and as discussed, its likeness to the modern day football stadium also makes it feel more familiar to me than it perhaps really is.
References
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective, Volume 1. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2006. Print.
