Nîmes et ses Antiquités. Un passé présent XVIe-XIXe siècle

What did Antiquity become after Antiquity? This book examines the countless ways in which, from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, Antiquity has been received, understood, integrated or rejected in a city whose Roman monuments are among the richest and most visible of France. Our relationship to ancient civilizations is not fixed: it responds to changes in knowledge and the ebb and flow of social, political, and cultural concerns.

Our approach is multidisciplinary and brings together art and cultural history, iconography, and archaeology. Nîmes et ses Antiquités is not a comprehensive treatment of all the issues, but it does trace their outlines while casting a fresh look on a subject whose importance goes beyond learned inquiry alone. It also offers a close look, and an analysis, of our relationship to a past at once so distant and so near.