The Triumphal Arch

Description

In this first book to explore the entire history of triumphal arches, from their Roman origins to the present day, the Classicist and architectural historian Peter Howell describes arches through time, in terms of their cultural and historical significance. He also discusses the form of the arch in Renaissance painting and the rather surprising use of arches as war memorials. The erection of arches is far from dead, and Howell shows us examples, taken from over thirty years of research, from around the world.

Peter Howell was born in Malta in1941 and educated at Downside and Balliol College, Oxford. For thirty-five years he taught, first in the Classics Department of Bedford College and then at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, both in the University of London. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Uppsala in 2016. He has always had a keen interest in architectural history, especially that of the nineteenth century, and was Chairman of the Victorian Society from 1987 to 1993. He has written about both subjects: in classics about the epigrammatic poet Martial and in architectural history John Francis Bentley: Architect of Westminster Cathedral (Liverpool University Press, 2020). His longstanding interest in the triumphal arch links his two areas of scholarship.