The dead Emperor's right to exist undisturbed is more important than an unwelcome, common intruder's right to live. Kesner's central thesis, that the effort to create a 'real' world in terracotta sculpture to create a 'real' world for the Emperor in death that fully encompasses reality is intriguing. "One substantial implication of regarding representation as merely the expression of some belief or idea, rather than as complete on its own terms, is to keep the gulf between representation and reality wide open" (Kesner, 1995, p.131). The figures are both real and not real, according to Kesner, representative of the Emperor's continued need for protection and power yet true depictions of the army all at once. However, the problem with Kesner's thesis is that it...
Kesner's article emerges as a philosophical meditation on the nature of representation in funerary sculptures, but the more straightforward, anonymous Planetware article is both more persuasive and more informative, particularly given its greater use of primary source excerpts (which are largely absent from the Kesner).Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
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