Bøger af Caroline Vout

Sheds new light on the Paris Olympics of 1924, often considered the first international games. From their origins in ancient Greece to their modern transformation into a visually powerful event on the world stage, the Olympics have retained their unique place in sport and culture. The summer of 2024 will see the Olympics return to Paris after a century; the 1924 Olympics, arguably the first truly international games, were the first to transmit live radio broadcasts and the first to have an Olympic village. Published to coincide with the Paris Olympics of 2024, Paris 1924 accompanies a major exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum. This book explores the Olympic games from a visual perspective, investigating the tensions between their classical beginnings and their representation in 1924 and across the modern era. How were the 1924 Olympics shaped by the visual culture of the period? And how, in turn, were the arts shaped by them? From plaster casts of fifth-century BCE athletic statues to Hollywood cinema, and from classic portraits of the protagonists to more abstract art, Paris 1924 brings together painting, sculpture, film, photography, posters, letters, medals, and other memorabilia to tell a story of sporting endeavor that equally mirrored and shaped its times. Issues of gender, race, and class, as well as an exploration of celebrity and spectatorship, show that the debate around sport was as complex and momentous in the past as it is today. The book includes essays by specialists from the fields of classics, art history, French history, sports history, and medicine, each of whom will focus on key themes in the exhibition and key protagonists in the Olympic story. The subject matter will appeal to fans of both art and sports and tap into the enthusiasm for all things Olympic in 2024.

The ancient Greeks and Romans were not shy about sex. Phallic imagery, sex scenes, and the lively activities of their promiscuous gods adorned many objects, buildings, and sculptures. Drinking cups, oil-lamps, and walls were decorated with scenes of seduction; statues of erect penises served as boundary-stones and signposts; and marble satyrs and nymphs grappled in gardens. Caroline Vout examines the abundance of sexual imagery in Greek and Roman culture. Were these images intended to be shocking, humorous, or exciting? Are they about sex or love? How are we to know whether our responses to them are akin to those of the ancients? The answers to these questions provide fascinating insights into ancient attitudes toward religion, politics, sex, gender, and the body. They also reveal how the ancients saw themselves and their world, and how subsequent centuries have seen them. Beautifully illustrated throughout, this lively and thought-provoking book not only addresses theories of sexual practice and social history, it is also a visual history of what it meant and still means to stare sex in the face.

The Greeks and Romans were not shy about sex. In classical Greece, statues of erect penises served as boundary-stones and signposts. In Rome, marble satyrs and nymphs grappled in gardens. How are we to make sense of this abundance of sexual imagery? Were these images seductive, shocking, humorous? This title answers these questions.