CONTENTS JANUARY•FEBRUARY 2023 • ISSUE 199

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12 PAINTING POMPEII Roman painters used frescoes to open up the often small rooms of ancient houses, filling the walls with foliage, still lifes, imaginary architecture, idyllic sacred landscapes, and mythological scenes. Dalu Jones delves into the art of Roman interior design.

22 CARAVAN KINGS As finds from Uzbekistan’s oasis cities go on view at the Louvre, we take a look at some of the ornate sculptures and murals from royal buildings that bear witness to the cultural connections and transformations along the Silk Roads.

30 PERSIA AND BEYOND How did the lands conquered by Alexander the Great respond to him? Using stunning manuscripts, Ursula Sims-Williams examines the legacy of the king and his travels, from his victory over a Zoroastrian priestess transformed into a dragon to his visit to Ka‘ba.

40 THE ART OF POWER Egypt’s 18th Dynasty was a period of tradition and reinvention in art, with the development of carvings of chariot-riding pharaohs and the exaggerated forms of Akhenaten’s Amarna style. How did the iconography help kings, even the female pharaoh Hatshepsut, project their power? Guy de la Bédoyère guides us through the evolving royal image.

48 SHOCK AND AWE Dreams, drama, and a preoccupation with hair infuse the work of Romanticera artist Henry Fuseli. Lucia Marchini explores his choice of imaginative subjects and his intriguing use of ancient references in his drawings of modern women.

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MINERVA

January/February 2023