Golden Excess: Art and the Aesthetics of the Incredible in Neronian Rome (Brill’s Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History, 76)

Book info: Golden Excess: Art and the Aesthetics of the Incredible in Neronian Rome (Brill’s Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History, 76) (Hardcover, 636 pages) – Brill, 2025. Language: English.

Golden Excess: Art and the Aesthetics of the Incredible in Neronian Rome is the first monograph to offer a full art historical synthesis of the rich archaeological and monumental evidence for Nero’s remarkable principate. An outsized and innovative artistic program emerges, informed by aesthetics of excess, the grotesque and learned luxury, that rivals the cultural achievements of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus, and stands in stark contrast to the universally negative and disparaging accounts of Nero in ancient authors. Indeed, Neronian Rome witnessed an astonishing efflorescence in the arts whose lasting effects still resonate. Editorial Reviews About the Author Eric R. Varner, Ph.D. (Yale, 1993) is Associate Professor of Art History and Classics at Emory University. He has published extensively on ancient Roman portraits, including Mutilation and Transformation: Damnatio Memoriae and Roman Imperial Portraiture (Brill, 2004).