MEET ANTINOUS IN LONDON DURING GAY HISTORY MONTH

ONE of the world's leading authorities on Antinous will discuss the latest research discoveries and insights into the Beauteous Boy during a popular lecture as part of London Gay History Month tomorrow, February 24th.

John J Johnston will give the lecture, entitled "A Boy and His Empire: Antinous — Last God of the Ancient World", on February 24th at the TREADWELL'S esoteric and occult book shop located at  33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 7BS.

Seating is exceedingly limited, so it is advisable to contact the store by CLICKING HERE.

Johnston, shown above with the famous Berlin Green Head, is well known for giving lectures which offer a very thorough and precise outline of the historical person Antinous and his elevation by the Emperor Hadrian from provincial obscurity to the dizzying heights of Imperial Rome — and upon his death, to the celestial realm of divinity. 

He has spoken on the subject of Antinous twice at the renowned Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, drawing standing-room-only crowds each time.

This lavishly illustrated lecture draws upon artistic, archaeological, and textual sources to examine the enigmatic life and death of Antinous, before going on to consider his religious and artistic legacy throughout the Roman world and his continuing influence in the modern world from his adoration by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the father of art history, through the works of Victorian artists and writers, and into the 21st Century where Antinous and his image have provided the basis for numerous "blockbuster" exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the world and continue to inspire artists, writers and film-makers.
 
Bringing the discussion right up-to-date, he will also be addressing our own Priesthood of Antinous and the online TEMPLE OF ANTINOUS as exemplars of Antinous' influence on modern popular culture.

Recently, he presented a conference paper focused upon the effect of Antinous upon western gay culture, entitled The Cult of Antinous: 1,882 Years and Counting?
  
John J Johnston is Vice-Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society and serves on the Committee of the Friends of the Petrie Museum. He has lectured extensively at institutions such as the British Museum, the National Museum of Scotland, the Royal College of Surgeons and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. 

His varied research interests encompass mortuary beliefs and practices, gender and sexuality, Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, the history of Egyptology and the reception of ancient Egypt in the modern world. 

He is co-editor of the book, Narratives of Egypt and the Ancient Near East: Literary Linguistic Approaches (Peeters, 2011). He is presently editing two further publications and sits on the Editorial Board of Egyptian Archaeology magazine.

John J Johnston read Egyptology and Classics at the University of Liverpool and Open University, respectively. He obtained an MA in  Egyptian Archaeology from University College London, where he is  currently reading for a PhD.