About our staff
Professor Judith Barringer
BA, MA, MPhil, PhD
Professor of Greek Art and Archaeology
- Tel: +44 (0)131 650 3584
- Email: J.M.Barringer@ed.ac.uk
- Room 00M.12, William Robertson Wing, Old Medical School, Teviot Place
Biography
I received my PhD in Classical Archaeology from Yale University and have taught at several colleges and universities in the USA. I joined the staff at the University of Edinburgh in 2005. I have received numerous fellowships and grants, including a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and a British Academy Larger Research Grant. I was a Senior Fellow at the Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften in Vienna in 2011-2012, and am currently on a two-year research leave in Berlin with a Marie Curie Fellowship from the Gerda Henkel Stiftung (2013-2015).
My scholarly work centers on the archaeology, art, and culture of Greece, particularly the intersection between art, myth, and religion, from the Archaic through Hellenistic periods. More specifically, I am interested in why images, particularly sculpture and vase painting, appear as they do and how they acquire meaning for ancient patrons and viewers from their physical and social contexts. My publications concentrate on vase painting iconology, myth and religion, social history, and contextual readings of sculpture in both public sanctuaries and private contexts.
Summary of research interests
Places:- Mediterranean
- Culture
- Landscapes & Monuments
- Material Culture
- Politics
- Religion
- Society
- Antiquity
Research interests
My current research interests are in the areas of Greek sculpture, vase painting, myth, and religion from the Archaic through Hellenistic periods, on which I have published four books and numerous articles; I have also published on Roman art.
Current research activities
I have just completed a monograph, A Cultural History of Olympia and its Monuments, c.600 BC-400 A.D.
Research projects
Western Greek Cities and Sanctuaries Abroad
Logistics in Greek Sanctuaries
Undergraduate teaching
- Greek World 1a and 1b
- Classical Art 2a
- Classical Archaeology 2b
- Early and Archaic Greek Art and Archaeology
- The Art of Classical Greece: Myths, Meanings, and Patrons
- Hellenistic Art
- The Athenian Akropolis
Postgraduate teaching
- Greek Vase Painting
- Topography and Monuments of Athens and Attika
- Hellenistic Art and Archaeology
- Classical Greek Sculpture
Current Students:
| Name | Degree | Thesis topic | Supervision type | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldassi, Claudia | PhD | TBC | Secondary | link |
| Foukara, Lavinia | PhD | The Apollonian triad in Attic art | Primary | |
| PhD | Dressed in Otherness: Greek Perceptions and Representations of Persian Dress in the Archaic and Classical Periods | Secondary |
Past Students:
| Name | Degree | Thesis topic | Supervision type | Completion year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nenci, Nicola | PhD | Taking Apollo by the horns. Reconsidering the cult(s) of Apollo Karneios in the Mediterranean | Primary | 2016 | link |
| Pavlides, Nicolette | PhD | Hero-Cult in Sparta in the Archaic and Classical Periods: a study of local religion | Primary | 2011 |
Books - Authored
Barringer, J. (forthcoming) Olympia: A Cultural History. Princeton University Press
Barringer, J. (2015) The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressDOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139047418
Barringer, J. (2008) Art, Myth, and Ritual in Classical Greece. Cambridge University Press
Barringer, J. (2001) The Hunt in Ancient Greece. The Johns Hopkins University Press
Barringer, J. (1995) Divine Escorts: Nereids in Archaic and Classical Greek Art. University of Michigan Press
Articles
Barringer, J. (2016) Olympia: More than meets the eye. Classics Ireland, 2012-2013(19-20), pp. 26-49
Barringer, J. (2015) The changing image of Zeus in Olympia. Archäologischer Anzeiger, 2015(1), pp. 19-37
Barringer, J. (2009) The Olympic Altis Before the Temple of Zeus. Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 124, pp. 223-250
Barringer, J. (2005) The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Heroes, and Athletes. Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 74(2), pp. 211-241
Barringer, J. (1996) Atalanta as Model: The Hunter and the Hunted. Classical Antiquity, 15, pp. 48-76DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/25011031
Barringer, J. (1994) The Mythological Paintings in the Macellum at Pompeii. Classical Antiquity, 13(2), pp. 149-166DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/25011012
Barringer, J. (1991) Europa and the Nereids: Wedding or funeral?. American Journal of Archaeology, 95, pp. 657-67
Chapters
Barringer, J. (forthcoming) The design of the Trysa Heroon and narrative structures. In: Gottsmann, A. and Plattner, G. (eds.) Das Heroon von Trysa. Vienna
Barringer, J. (forthcoming) The message is in the medium: White-ground lekythoi and grave markers in classical Athens. In: Barringer, J. and Lissarrague, F. (eds.) Images at the Crossroads: Media and Meaning in Greek Art. Edinburgh University Press
Barringer, J. (2015) The Shefton dolphin rider. In: Boardman, J., Parkin, A. and Waite, S. (eds.) On the Fascination of Objects: Greek and Etruscan Art in the Shefton Collection. Oxford: Oxbow Books, pp. 117-130DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh1dsbw.16
Barringer, J. (2014) Athenian state monuments for the war dead: Evidence from a loutrophoros. In: Avramidou, A. and Demetriou, D. (eds.) Approaching the Ancient Artifact: Representation, Narrative, and Function. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH, pp. 153-160DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110308815
Barringer, J. (2013) Hunters and Hunting on the François Vase. In: Shapiro, H. and Iozzo, M. (eds.) The François Vase: New Perspectives. Papers of the International Symposium. Kilchberg/Bern: Akanthus, pp. 153-167
Barringer, J. (2011) The Legacy of the Pheidian Zeus at Olympia. In: Stevenson, T., Taraporewalla, R., McWilliam, J. and Puttock, S. (eds.) The Statue of Zeus of Olympia: New Perspectives. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, pp. 61-71
Barringer, J. (2010) Zeus in Olympia. In: Erskine, A. and Bremmer, J. (eds.) The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 155-177
Barringer, J. (2009) Making Heroes in the Athenian Agora: A New Interpretation of the Hephaisteion. In: Schultz, P. and Hoff, R. (eds.) Structure, Image, Ornament: Architectural Sculpture of the Greek World. Oxbow Press, pp. 105-120
Barringer, J. (2005) Alkamenes' Prokne and Itys in Context. In: Hurwit, J. and Barringer, J. (eds.) Periklean Athens and its Legacy: Problems and Perspectives. University of Texas Press, pp. 163-176
Barringer, J. (2004) Skythian Hunters on Attic Vases. In: Marconi, C. (ed.) Greek Vases, Images, and Controversies. Brill, pp. 13-25
Conference contribution
Barringer, J. (2020) When does ‘Classical’ begin?. In: Innovations and Inventions in Athens c. 530 to 470 BCE – Two Crucial Generations. Vienna: Phoibos Verlag