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An Age of Intermateriality: Skeuomorphism and Intermateriality Between the Late Republic and Early Empire

: Intermaterial relations between individual genres of material culture are a constant phenomenon in antiquity. There are, however, specific periods of time with particularly strong interdependencies. This applies in particular to the Late Republic and Early Empire (2 nd century B.C. – 1 st century A.D.). The aim of this paper is to focus on this period from a diachronic perspective by taking into account different genres of ancient ‘art’, such as pottery, glass or marble objects. The analysis of all these genres shows especially that the mere imitation of formal characteristics played a lesser role than the creative appropriation and emulation of these characteristics. In order to tackle the phenomenon of intermaterial relations, the concept of skeuomorphism is abandoned in favour of the art-theoretical concept of ‘intermateriality’, which is introduced and further developed here. silver arts 17 . Interpretatio means a translation, i. e., an exact copy or reproduction of a model. Imitatio , on the other hand, is a freer form; it subjects the model to criticism and adapts it to its own needs. It thus represents a conscious reshaping. Finally, aemulatio is more independent 18 . Using different influences and models, it aims to create something new. Aemulatio thus corresponds to the mode of ‘material interference’, although it has a somewhat different connotation. Interpretatio and imitatio, on the other hand, represent different forms of material transfer. Similar to Strässle’s modes, the ancient rhetorical categories also do not deal with the concept of inspiration or ‘weak’ influences, as summarised above with the term ‘material resonance’. However, if we look at the results of Zim-mermann-Elseify’s work, it becomes clear that the terms employed play virtually no role and con-tribute little to the understanding of the ancient findings. She encounters interpretationes , i. e., very strong dependencies, are only rarely. More common are imitationes , in which the overall concepts of metalware are adopted with only minor changes. Aemulatio is by far the most helpful term, but mainly because it best describes the extremely complex relationships involved 19 . The concepts of ancient rhetoric and the theory of intermateriality overlap to a large extent, but are far from being congruent. One strength of Strässle’s model is that his modes place less emphasis on dependencies, and instead address the positive interplay of materialities. Ancient terminology, on the other hand, focuses on the producers themselves, and is thus based more on the actors and their goals.