Ekphrasis refers to the vivid, verbal, descriptive narrative of a subject that the listener cannot see in front of them. It has a long tradition in Classics, continuing to the present day. In antiquity, it was applied to a range of subjects, such as people, places and events, and in a variety of genres, such as oratory, historiography, and forms of poetry. The modern definition focuses on works of art, including those set within the context of a museum. Media using ekphrasis vary, from Homer's account of the Shield of Achilles (Iliad 18, 478-608), to art reviews on the radio.
Ekphrasis is more than just visual-verbal translation, being also framed by the language used, and interpreted through culturally defined ways of seeing. It is socially specific – few today would tolerate the overwhelming maleness of the ancient voice. This dialogue about ekphrasis between antiquity and modernity explores how the classical world has influenced our shifting debates, and how modern approaches have changed our view of antiquity.
The fact that AD is used more for kinetic media than visual art may be partly why art historians do not reference AD. The reverse is not necessarily true, as scholars of AD allude to ekphrasis. The juxtaposition of ekphrasis and AD allow us to consider how museums' access programmes might interact with academic research, for example, exploring the language used. Furthermore, studies of visual memory in classical art focus on the link between seeing and remembering, but the practice of AD suggests that active description forms a crucial role bridging the two.
Bartsch, Shadi and Jas Elsner. 2007. ‘Eight ways of looking at an ekphrasis.’ Classical Philology 102: i-vi.
Cheeke, Stephen. 2008. Writing for Art: The Aesthetics of Ekphrasis. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Michael Squire. 2013. 'Ekphrasis at the forge and the forging of ekphrasis:
the ‘shield of Achilles’ in Graeco-Roman word and image,' Word & Image, 29:2, 157-191.
Ruth Webb. 1999. 'Ekphrasis ancient and modern: The invention of a genre.'
Word & Image, 15:1, 7-18.
Webb, Ruth. 2016. ‘Sight and insight: theorizing vision, emotion and imagination in ancient rhetoric.’ In Michael Squire (ed.), Sight and the Ancient Senses. London/New York: Routledge: 205-19.