Join us on Oct. 22 for an engaging presentation by new FSC Art History Professor, Dr. Andrew Crocker. Dr. Crocker will present “Luxury from the Provinces: Reading Morality on the Walls of a Roman Villa.” This presentation will focus on the moral politics of Roman wall painting through repairs to the décor of Villa A at Oplontis, one of the grandest complexes on the Bay of Naples and, perhaps, the residence of Poppaea, the wife of the emperor Nero. Dr. Crocker argues that this was not accidental, but a self-conscious performance of humility and virtue, tied to Roman conceptions of an old-fashioned moral framework and a long literary tradition condemning luxury and impropriety in domestic decoration.
Dr. Andrew Crocker is Assistant Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History and Museum Studies at Florida Southern College. His research focuses on the social and political significance of Roman art, with particular attention to the role of art in negotiating identity and status in the Roman provinces. His current research projects trace the impact of imperial expansion on Roman self-definition and the role of Roman portraiture in local politics in Greece and North Africa.