The Corcoran School's Visiting Artists and Scholars Committee (VASC) invites Dr. Maryl Gensheimer to present Public Baths and the Roman City: Spaces of Entertainment and Their Visual Experience.

Throughout the Roman Empire—from modern Britain to Morocco, from Spain to Syria—bathing was a highlight of the day and a major social event. This lecture examines the reasons for baths' popularity in ancient Rome and their experience by a diverse audience, while also exploring the rationale for imperial patronage of monumental bath buildings. This lecture will demonstrate how Roman baths were as much a means of entertaining the Roman people as a tool with which to shape the ancient city and consolidate imperial power.

Maryl B. Gensheimer is a historian of Roman art and archaeology. Her research focuses on the art and architecture of the city of Rome, on the Bay of Naples, and in Asia Minor. She is particularly interested in ancient cities and urban life, and the social structures and interdependent systems of urban design and urban infrastructure that impacted the ancient experience of monuments and spaces.

She holds a B.A. in art history from Williams College (2005) and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Classical art and archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (2013).

The Visiting Artists and Scholars Committee (VASC) brings respected established and emerging practitioners in the arts to present public lectures, conduct one-on-one critiques, lead small seminars or reading discussions, and share informal meals with students. All VASC lectures are free and open to the public.