“All about the Body? The Matter of Temporality in the Study of Greek Sculpture”, in A. Lichtenberger and R. Raja (eds.), The Diversity of Classical Archaeology. Studies in Classical Archaeology. Vol. 1, Brepols, 2017. (original) (raw)

“All about the Body? The Matter of Temporality in the Study of Greek Sculpture”, in A. Lichtenberger and R. Raja (eds.), The Diversity of Classical Archaeology. Studies in Classical Archaeology. Vol. 1, Brepols, 2017.

This chapter aims to demonstrate that, to gain traction on aspects of ancient experience, we need to concentrate less on the stylistic choices by which sculpted bodies materialized beliefs about living bodies than on the ways in which the sculptural monument as a whole shaped the durational aspects of its being perceived. Even though we cannot see their art as the Greeks did, we can nevertheless examine the temporal frameworks through which monuments created their possibilities of reception. I focus on two case studies selected to give as wide as possible a cross section of the formats of classical sculpture and their conditions of display. One is a freestanding bronze statue group from the Athenian Agora, the other a grave relief from the borders of the Greek world. One brings into play the problems entailed in understanding the changing mechanisms and agents involved in the act of dedication, the other the problems of making sense of the diversity of sculpture’s formats and locations. One is justifiably famous, the other has remained obscure and undeservedly faces a future of even less renown.