Roman Sculpture

Research undertaken in Durham University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Health: Department of Archaeology; supervised by Dr Anna Leone.

Viva voce examination held on April 15th, 2016.
Examiners: Prof. Roland R. R. Smith (University of Oxford), Dr Catherine M. Draycott (Durham University).
Outcome: passed forthwith (no corrections; thesis passed unconditionally).

A unique group of sculpture from Early Christian Cyprus comes from the so-called Villa of Theseus, at Nea Paphos. The group comprises (at least) twenty sculptures of divinities and mythological figures, which range in date from the Hellenistic to the Late Roman periods. Their discovery with connection to late antique layers demonstrates the long-lasting importance of sculpture to the villa culture and confirms the empire-wide appreciation of local elites to the medium in late antique times. In this paper, the decoration of the Villa of Theseus will be re-assessed in order to efficiently envisage its sculptural environment, between the late fourth and late sixth centuries. Possibilities for the display and usage of the sculptures within the villa will be offered, while possible reasons for the selection of particular iconographical types will also be suggested, within the broader context of Nea Paphos.

This book presents a new study of Greek large-scale bronze statuary of the late Archaic and Classical periods. It examines the discovery, origin, style, date, artistic attribution, identification, and interpretation of the surviving bronzes, and focuses in particular on their technical features and casting techniques. It contains over 170 plates of photographs and drawings to illustrate its discussion.

It also places the development of the casting techniques in connection with the stylistic evolution in Greek free-standing sculpture. During the Classical period, artists preferred bronze to marble when creating their contrapposto figures. Indisputably, bronze gave particular freedom to artists in creating three-dimensional figures. In addition, the evolution in style encouraged the development of the uses of bronze to serve the new needs and tendencies in sculpture during the late Archaic and especially the Classical period. Through the examination of how technical matters affect style, this book presents fresh interpretations of these important monuments of Greek art and offers a new approach in the field of Greek free-standing bronze sculpture.

The excavations of the University of Warsaw in the so-called Villa of Theseus in Kato Paphos uncovered a unique group of at least twenty sculptures, predominantly depicting mythological figures and divinities. The building took its definite architectural form in the late fourth century, although its construction had started early in the second half of the second century. In terms of decoration, the villa reached its heyday between the late fourth and sixth centuries. Most of the sculptures, which vary in scale and style, have, nevertheless, been described as reduced copies of the late second or early third century at the latest. Yet, their discovery in late antique layers establishes their availability at the time and confirms the importance of sculpture to the villa culture that boomed in Late Antiquity (fourth to seventh century).

It is the aim of this paper to study the statuary from the Villa of Theseus against the background of the architectural development of the building. Immovable decorative elements and architectural features will be considered, in order to assess where sculpture might have been displayed and reconstruct—to the extent possible—the ancient viewers’ experience. The selection of certain sculptural subjects and their significance (decorative, allegorical, religious) will also be discussed.

Tios (Zonguldak-Filyos) kentteki arkeolojik kazılar 2007 senesinden beri Karadeniz Ereğli Müzesi adına, sırasıyla Prof. Dr. Sümer Atasoy ve Doç. Dr. Şahin Yıldırım’ın bilimsel danışmanlıklarıyla akropolis, antik liman, tiyatro ve nekropolis alanlarında yürütülmüş ve bölge tarihinin güncellenmesine olanak veren önemli buluşlara sahne olmuştur. Arkeolojik çalışmalara paralel olarak yürütülen epigrafik araştırmalar da kentten günümüze ulaşmış Hellenistik ve Roma dönemlerine ait mezar taşlarını, onurlandırma heykel kaidelerini, adakları, miltaşlarını, ticari ağırlıklarını ve diğer türlerdeki yazıtlı buluntuları gün yüzüne çıkarmıştır.

Bu buluntular arasından beyaz mermerden silindir bir onurlandırma heykel kaidesinin üzerindeki yazıtının ise sadece bu kentin değil aynı zamanda Anadolu’nun Roma tarihi açısından önem arz ettiği anlaşılmıştır. Zira antik literatürde sadece ünlü yazar Nikaialı Cassius Dio’nun (MS yak. 150-235) Roma tarihini kaleme aldığı eserinde (Rhomaika, 79.39.5) adı geçen Roma İmparatorluğu’nun Pontus-Bithynia Eyaleti Valisi Caecilius Aristo, bu unvanıyla ilk defa bu yazıtta belgelenmiş oldu. Yazıtın çevirisi şöyledir:

Tiosluların pek görkemli/gösterişli kenti, legatus Augusti propraetore (imparatorun praetor mertebesindeki elçisi) Caecilius Aristo’nun yönetim döneminde... (şu kişi/kişileri onurlandırdı)

Bilinen tarihe göre, Roma İmparatorluğu’nun iç savaşlarla çalkalandığı bir dönemde Roma İmparatoru Caracalla’yı, kendisinin tertiplediği bir suikastla (MS 08.04.217) öldürtmeyi başaran Macrinus imparator olmayı başarmıştı. Ancak bu kez kendisi Iulia Maesa’nın himayesinde olan torunu Varius Avitus’a yani namı diğer Elagabalus’a karşı Antiokheia’daki savaşı kaybetmiştir. Bir seneden biraz fazla tahtta kalabilmiş devrik imparator Macrinus bunun üzerine gizli bir şekilde Roma’ya gitmeye ve Senato ile halkı ikna ederek iktidarını yeniden elde etmeyi amaçlamıştır. Böylece kılık değiştirerek Kilikia, Kappadokia, Galatia ve Bithynia bölgeleri üzerinden Eribolon’daki (İhsaniye) limana ulaşmış buradan Kalkhedon’a varmıştır. İşte Cassius Dio tam da bu noktada Macrinus’un, Vali Caecilius Aristo’nun korkusundan (Eyalet Başkenti) Nikomedeia’ya girmeye çekindiğini belirtmiştir. Dolayısıyla, Dio’nun MS 08.06.218’den kısa bir süre sonrasını kayda geçen bu cümlesi, bugüne kadar Aristo’nun o dönemde bölge valisi olduğunun dolaylı yoldan belgesiydi. Ancak şimdi Tios’ta ortaya çıkan bu yazıtla, önceki kariyerinin ufak bir kısmı Roma’daki birkaç belgeden tanınan Caecilius Aristo’nun hem adı hem de eyalet valiliği doğrulanmış oldu.

Imaging  technologies  are  transforming  the  study  and  presentation  of  artefacts.  The  contributors  to  this  volume  are  at  the  vanguard  of  applying  developing  technologies  to  cultural  heritage,  and  their  chapters  discuss  ways  in  which  various  techniques  are  being  used  for  research,  digital  cataloguing,  and  public  engagement.  Eight  chapters  highlight  diverse  methods  in  imaging  and  presentation  (e.g.  photogrammetry,  multispectral  and  hyperspectral  imaging,  structure-from-light,  digital  microscopy,  3D  printing,  and  virtual  and  augmented  reality)  applied  to  objects  of  differing  forms,  size,  media  and  cultural  origin,  including  standing  stones  in  pre-Columbian  Nicaragua,  Egyptian  and  Roman  sculpture,  Mesopotamian  cylinder  seals,  and  rock  crystal  vessels  made  in  the  early  medieval  Islamic  world.  Aimed  at  contributing  to  knowledge-transfer  between  sciences,  humanities,  and  cultural  heritage  professionals,  this  volume  offers  updated,  accessible  accounts  of  digital  imaging  of  objects  for  general  and  specialist  audiences.

The material evidence for the wax finish on ancient marble statues, known as ganosis, is scarce and controversial, although Greek and Latin sources describe the recipes and cultural value of this treatment. The surface treatment of a colossal Roman head from the Roman theatre of Dougga (Tunisia), dated to the end of the second century CE, is studied by a multi-analytical protocol (video-microscope, cross section, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry of one sample). The results of this physico-chemical analysis and the comparison with ancient recipes, prove the use of ganosis on a Roman statue and explore, for the first time, the application of the recipes described in ancient sources. This result shows the potential of the Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry analysis, detecting at the same time organic and inorganic materials and their stratigraphy, to study the ancient recipes.

Il libro studia l'edificio del culto imperiale recentemente individuato a Fano sulla base di vecchi scavi del 1899. Il monumento è costituito da una vasta sala con portico antistante, riccamente decorata di marmi policromi, con un ciclo statuario di cui si conservano le immagini dell'imperatore Claudio e del figlio Britannico. Lo studio è completato da una prima revisione dei monumenti del culto imperiale nel mondo romano da Augusto alla metà del I secolo d.C.

Oggetto della nota sono due frammenti di rilievo mitologico, rinvenuti nel XVIII secolo sulle pendici sud-occidentali del Palatino. Il primo è nel ‘magazzino delle Sculture’ del Museo Nazionale Romano; il secondo, inedito, nel magazzino presso il podio del c.d. tempio di Giove Statore sul Palatino. Mediante l’esame autoptico, lo studio iconografico e dei caratteri stilistico-formali, si è constatata l’appartenenza alla medesima lastra. L’assoluta identità di soggetto nella decorazione frontonale, rispetto al rilievo Spada con il ratto del Palladio, ha consentito di ipotizzare una duplicatio.

In this paper we are going to analyse two important marble reliefs fragments that were separated in the past and now are currently kept in two different museums. They were discovered in Rome in the XVIII century in the same area, the southwestern slopes of the Palatine. Now we will try to make an hypothesis about their belonging to the same marble relief and to demonstrate the relevance of the choice revealed by the mythological subject represented, the Palladium theft, especially in relation to the similar famous Spada relief.

Ky botim, i shtypur në 2000 kopje, nuk është në shitje.
Iu shpërndahet falas të gjithë të interesuarve që vizitojnë
Muzeun Arkeologjik Apolloni deri në përfundim të
rezervave.
Fotografitë e publikuara në këtë botim janë origjinale dhe
të realizuara nga institucionet e përfshira në projektin
3D-IMP-ACT, si dhe institucionet mbështetëse të
projektit që kanë kontribuar në përgatitjen e këtij botimi.
Mbështetja financiare për hartimin dhe publikimin e këtij
materiali është siguruar nga Programi Interreg IPA CBC,
Itali - Shqipëri - Mal i Zi 2014/2020.


The publication printed in 2000 copies, is not intended for
sale. It shall be distributed free of charge to all interested
visitors of the Archaeological Museum of Apollonia until
the number of copies available finish.
The pictures published in this publication are original
and are realized from partner institutions of 3D-IMPACT project and stakeholder institutions that have
contributed to the realization of this publication.
The preparation and printing of this publication was made
possible with the financial support of Interreg IPA CBC
Italy-Albania-Montenegro 2014/2020 Program.

Bei der erneuten Untersuchung der Marmorstatuen von Lucus Feroniae, die vor einigen
Jahren begann, spielen die Kaiserporträts aus der prächtigen Villa der gens Volusia
eine wichtige Rolle. Diese suburbane Familienvilla liegt ca. 20 km nördlich von Rom an
der antiken via Tiberina im Gebiet des heutigen Fiano Romano.

Dans un premier temps, je ne mettrai pas de pdf de l'article qui se rapporte aux découvertes de la nécropole fouillée près de la place E. Wernert (Lyon 5). Voici seulement en pièce jointe une photographie d'un sarcophage qui remploie une architrave-frise d'un mausolée et une liste de quelques mots-clefs : Lyon ; églises Saint-Just et Saint-Irénée ; paléochrétien ; remplois ; nécropole ; sarcophage ; mausolées antiques ; sanctuaire du culte impérial ; décor architectural ; sculpture ; griffons ; Méléagre ; stèle funéraire avec un portrait ; Eros sur un sarcophage.

RESUMEN El artículo describe y realiza un primer estudio de las estructuras y los materiales de una villa romana recientemente excavada en Antequera. Entre ellos destacan el repertorio musivo y escultórico, de los que emerge la importancia del yacimiento.
SUMMARY The present article describes and attempts a first approach to the structures and materials from a recently discovered Roman Villa in Antequera. The Villa is particularly remarkable for its mosaics and sculptures, from which the importance of the site arises.

La grande colonnade double qui a été fouillée et restaurée au Sud de Tyr par les équipes de Maurice Chéhab, entre 1946 et 1975, était considérée comme une rue à portiques. Les nouveaux travaux conduits depuis 2008 montrent qu'il s'agit d'une longue salle couverte à trois nefs qui appartient au vaste complexe des bains protobyzantins que l'on reconnaît maintenant dans cette partie de la ville. On peut la définir comme une basilique thermale. Elle desservait les palestres est et ouest et avait les fonctions d'un frigidarium et d'un centre de sociabilité. C'était aussi un hall de présentation des statues et inscriptions anciennes qui conservaient, dans une ville chrétienne, leur caractère d'oeuvres d'art et témoignaient du glorieux passé et de la vie civique de la cité.

Art historians and archaeologists have long been publishing visual recreations of the context of Roman sculpture that in turn allow modern viewers to imagine the spaces in which these objects were displayed. A very brief summary illustrates this point and shows the turn to using digital tools to accomplish this goal. e importance of creating and reus-ing open licensed digital content is emphasized. Doing so will allow many voices and perspectives to be represented in virtual digital worlds. An example of such work is given in the form of a very preliminary interactive and multiplayer plan of the House of the Faun at Pompeii. is resource uses open-licensed content and also free software tools, suggesting that as more content becomes available, more scholars, as well as students and others, will be able to explore the diversity of settings and people that existed in the Roman world.

Bu eserler Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Kültür Varlıkları ve Müzeler Genel Müdürlüğü'nün 27/04/2006 tarih ve B.16.0.KVM.200.11.02.02.14.01.222.11.(TA 014/G).65675 sayılı izni ile çalışılmıştır. Bahse konu malzeme üzerine başka izinler de alınmıştır.

This is an unpublished master's thesis in Turkish language at the Dokuz Eylül University, submitted by Olcay Kılınç in 2012. It focuses on Roman statues at the Archaeological Museum of Adana in Cilicia (southern Turkey) which is one of the oldest museum of Turkey.
The Archaeological Museum of Adana was first established at the Police Department building just after the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1924. It initially started with the collection of the columns, column capitals and sarcophagi found in the vicinity of the building. Alyanakzade Halil Kamil Bey from Adana was appointed as the museum director and with his successful work, the accumulated material was moved in 1928 to the madrasah section of the no longer existing Cafer Pasha Mosque and then opened to the public. The museum was moved to the building presently occupied by the Ethnographic Museum at Kuruköprü (former Greek church) in 1950. In the 1950s the Regional Museum of Adana was the only museum of the region with material obtained either through purchases or court decisions from a large area reaching from Kahramanmaraş and Gaziantep to Anamur and Alanya, the museum moved to its next premises in January 1972. In 2017 a new building was opened and all the collection moved to this new and larger building.
The catalogue of Roman statues at the Archaeological Museum of Adana features 43 pieces of, mostly life-size, statues. As a result of our studies the earliest Roman statues in Adana are from the early first century A.D. and they continue until the end of the fourth century A.D. The majority of pieces belong to the third century A.D. The rich Roman portrait sculpture of Adana is a remarkable collection. Most of the statues are ideal sculptures. Almost half of the collection remains as unpublished.

A little-known series of three immense spalliere on the Abduction of Helen (Walters Art Museum) can now be identified as Venetian, ca. 1468 for the wedding of Caterina Corner with the King of Cyprus, by Dario di Giovanni (Vasari's Dario da Treviso), and the reflection of a performance of theatricals on the abduction of Helen that would have accompanied the wedding, possibly the earliest known representation from the history of Venetian  theater. The paper addresses the environment in Padua in the 1440s, and the school of Squarcione, where Dario and Mantegna were said to be rivals,  the adaptations of Roman sculpture to be seen there including the source for the  earliest classical nude Venus in Venetian art,  as well as the importance of the myth of Trojan ancestry for Venice and the significance of the marriage for the Corner and for Venice. Other essays in the volume reveal important factors of the series original appearance including the remarkable use here of Pressbrokat for a domestic commission.

For the travellers of the Grand Tour Turin is usually only a stop on the way to Rome. But the Journals of the few who decided to stay longer in the city, such as Edward Gibbon, Luigi Lanzi, Aubin-Louis Millin and the sculptor Antonio Canova, represent a major source of information on collections of objets d’arts  including archaeological finds. This allows us to trace many objects so far considered missing or whose memory had been lost.

This paper attempts to reconstruct the main point(s) of view of the Vatican Laocoon Group by analysing the spatial design of the group. The focus lies on the composition lines and surfaces and also on the placing and movement of the single figures. Of particular interest is the close linkage between composition, point of view and narration, which was highly responsible for the group's fame.

The paper was published in the exhibition catalogue "Ansichtssache. Antike Skulpturengruppen im Raum" (University of Freiburg).

What is the relationship between art history and its objects? Responding to Jaś Elsner’s claim that art-historical writing is inevitably ekphrastic, this essay revisits a site of intense disciplinary anxiety—Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s 1759 description of the Belvedere Torso and its revised version in his 1764 History of Ancient Art. Description has been cast as the “scapegoat” (or pharmakos) of Winckelmann’s art history—that which must be excised yet is fundamental to the operations of the whole. But although it often serves as a site of perceived excess and sublimation in his work, the ekphrastic elements of Winckelmann’s prose are nevertheless some of the most historicist aspects of his scholarship, shaped by a deep engagement with Greco-Roman ekphrastic literature. Description, in this sense, serves as a Platonic pharmakon—both affliction and cure for classical art history’s medial and ontological separation from its ruined and fragmented objects. In Winckelmann’s description of the torso, ekphrasis holds out the potential for the statue’s “completion” (Ergänzung). But understood according to eighteenth-century practices of visual restoration, this raises the question of whether such “whole-making” should be understood as proper or supplemental to the original image. What does it mean to “re-member” the Belvedere Torso through ekphrastic strategies drawn from antiquity itself? And what does this imply for our own textual (and pharmacological) mediations of the visual?

Of the many interpretive puzzles presented by the so-called Anaglypha Traiani, a pair of Roman imperial reliefs today located in the Curia Julia, one special curiosity is their depiction of a tree, commonly identified as the Ficus Ruminalis, otherwise rendered naturalistically but shown as if growing directly out of a stone base or pedestal. Close interrogation of this feature yields two important avenues of investigation. The first is a matter of historical realism, concerning how living trees were incorporated into the Forum Romanum in real life and thus how we should conceive of the Ficus Ruminalis itself. The second pertains to the use of the base as a formal device, one which activates—in concert with multiple architectonic platforms across the two panels—a sophisticated interplay between the “living” and the “monumental.” This approach reveals a careful design in which the monuments in the reliefs’ foregrounds were selected on both symbolic and historical grounds. Ultimately, this analysis paves the way for a new reading of the two panels as a pair of distinct ideological visions, united within an overarching temporal framework that emphasizes continuity among Rome’s origins (the Ficus Ruminalis) and republican institutions (the Marsyas statue) and its imperial present, as well as between one emperor and the next.