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God in Man's Image: Thoughts on the Genesis and Affiliations of some Romano-British Cult-imagery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Miranda J. Green
Miranda J. Green
Affiliation:
University of Wales College, Newport
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Extract

A significant proportion of Romano-British religious iconography betrays characteristics that do not owe their presence directly to Classical models. Both style and symbolism are, here, indicative of a reference to traditions outside the Mediterranean artistic repertoire. Even so, in such regions as the Cotswolds and in areas of northern Britain, such imagery seemingly emerges fully-fledged in the Roman period, with no apparent antecedents in the indigenous material culture of the British Iron Age phases which immediately preceded the Roman conquest. Some iconography has clear and close parallels with Romano-Gaulish representational traditions, but that does not explain why — equally in Britain and Gaul– an apparently new set of divine images suddenly materialized after the introduction of Roman culture.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 29 , November 1998 , pp. 17 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © Miranda J. Green 1998. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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