Exhibiting Classical Greece: The Quest for a Cultural Display. An evolutionary view on the Curatorial Decisions Surrounding the Display of Classical Greek Sculpture from the 19th Century until today (original) (raw)
This thesis will take a historical approach to explore some of the issues with how classical Greek sculptures and their Roman copies have been displayed in Western museums from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, up to contemporary times. In each period addressed I will analyse how museums often ignore the cultural context in which these sculptures were created and originally functioned, and merely focus on their aesthetic qualities or their function as historical evidence. This thesis will then examine museums that engage with the sculptures' original cultural significance and investigate the curatorial approaches they use to create displays of these artworks that result in a culturally contextual experience for viewers.
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Looking at Greek Art (New York/Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011)
Looking at Greek Art offers a practical guide to the methods for approaching, analyzing, and contextualizing an unfamiliar piece of Greek art. It demonstrates how objects are dated and assigned to an artist or region; how to interpret the subject matter and narrative; how to reconstruct the context for which an object was made, distributed, and used; and how we can explore broader cultural perspectives by looking at questions of identity, gender, and relationships to surrounding cultures. Each section focuses on different theoretical approaches, providing an overview of the theories, key terms, and required evidence. Case studies serve to demonstrate each process and some key issues to consider when using a given approach. This book explores a variety of media, including terracotta, metalwork, and jewelry, and includes examples of art found in major museum collections in the United States and Europe.
From the Grave to the Garden. Re-staging Greek Funerary Sculpture in Roman Context
Scholarly interpretations of the role played by imported Greek artworks in Roman visual culture are commonly founded on the nobilia opera described by ancient authors. These interpretive paradigms, however, appear inadequate to explain the reuse of less canonical and more serial products, such as the numerous Greek architectural and relief sculptures unearthed in Roman contexts. In this perspective, the paper will examine significant examples of funerary sculptures and reliefs, dating from the sixth to the fourth centuries B.C.E., that were removed from Greek necropoleis to be adapted to completely different contexts of use–such as Roman gardens–and functions. The research will focus on the multiple lives of these objects by exploring the interaction between their original meaning and the significance they acquired in the new display settings. Which conditions and judgments determined their selection? Had they been specifically acquired as “authentic Greek artworks”? Did they retain any relation to their original function? This investigation aims not only at achieving a deeper understanding of the values assessed through the reuse of Greek funerary sculpture in Roman contexts, but also at clarifying how, and to what extent, the change of ownership, audience, time, and space may affect evaluation. The importance of looking closer to this material also rests on its potential to illuminate fundamental, but still underestimated, aspects of the circulation and consumption of Greek artworks in the Roman world.
Greek Temple as Museum. The Case of the Legendary Treasures of Athena from Lindos
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… , Nation-Building and Change. NaMu IV, …, 2008
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