The British School at Rome celebrates its first hundred years of
activity with this historical account, richly illustrated with over 270
images drawn from its archives. The main narrative, by the current
Director, examines the way the School has responded to the opportunities
offered by Rome in bringing together archaeologists and historians with
artists, architects and art historians in a fruitful marriage of
interests. It underlines both the continuities that link the vision of
Thomas Ashby to the present, and the transformations by which the
institution has adapted itself to the changing current of European
history. Chapters on the artist scholars by two artists closely linked
with the School, Alistair Crawford and Stephen Farthing, look at the
diverse responses to the opportunities offered by living in Rome. This
attractive publication will be of interest to all concerned with
Britain's cultural engagement with Italy, in the fine arts, archaeology,
and general. `The first visit marked me for life, as it has many others
before and after me. It aroused a passion for Italy, and a long,
slow-burning, love for the School. It was profoundly educational
precisely because the School was not a purely academic institution, set
in the marvellous cultural location of Rome, but included, as part of
its very essence, practising artists as well.' - Geoffrey Rickman.
