Identity and Pictorial Representation in Achaemenid Lycia
Abstract
The history of Lycia in the Achaemenid period can be reconstructed only through brief mentions in Greek literature, stone inscriptions mostly in Lycian, large numbers of coins, and the remarkable sculptural reliefs on the tombs of the ruling dynasts. The rulers of the various Lycian cities both competed with each other and navigated the difficult political path between the rival Persian and Greek states. What historical information can be learned from their self-representation on coins and monuments?
Citation
Spier, Jeffrey. "Identity and Pictorial Representation in Achaemenid Lycia." Pourdavoud Center: Achaemenid Workshop 1 (April 13, 2023).
About the Speaker
Jeffrey Spier
J. Paul Getty Museum
After completing a DPhil at Merton College, Oxford, Jeffrey Spier taught classical archaeology at University College London and the University of Arizona before joining the J. Paul Getty Museum as Anissa and Paul John Balson II Senior Curator of Antiquities in 2014. Before coming to the Getty, he curated exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne (San Marco and Venice) and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth (Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art). He has published on many aspects of Greek art and iconography, gems and jewelry, numismatics, early Christian and Byzantine art, ancient magic, and the history of collecting. At the Getty, he has curated and contributed to the catalogues for the exhibitions Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World (Getty Publishers 2018), Rubens: Picturing Antiquity (Getty Publishers 2021), and Persia: Ancient Iran and the Classical World (Getty Publishers 2022).