Research Catalog

Title

Casting the Parthenon sculptures from the eighteenth century to the digital age / Emma M. Payne.

Author

Payne, Emma M.

Publication

• London, UK ; New York, NY : Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2021.
• ©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 212 pages : illustrations (black and white); 25 cm

Summary

"Through the 19th century, as archaeology started to emerge as a systematic discipline, plaster casting became a widely-adopted technique, newly applied by archaeologists to document and transmit discoveries from their expeditions. The Parthenon sculptures were some of the first to be cast. In the late 18th century and the first years of the 19th century, the French artist Fauvel and Lord Elgin's men conducted campaigns on the Athenian Acropolis. Both created casts of parts of the Parthenon sculptures that they did not remove and these were sent back to France and Britain where they were esteemed and displayed alongside other, original sections. Henceforth, casting was established as an essential archaeological tool and grew exponentially over the course of the century. Such casts are now not only fascinating historical objects but may also be considered time capsules, capturing the details of important ancient works when they were first moulded in centuries past. This book examines the role of 19th century casts as an archaeological resource and explores how their materiality and spread impacted the reception of the Parthenon sculptures and other Greek and Roman works. Investigation of their historical context is combined with analysis of new digital models of the Parthenon sculptures and their casts. Sensitive 3D imaging techniques allow investigation of the surface markings of the objects in exceptionally fine detail and enable quantitative comparative studies comparing the originals and the casts. The 19th century casts are found to be even more accurate, but also complex, than anticipated; through careful study of their multiple layers, we can retrieve surface information now lost from the originals through weathering and vandalism"--

Subject

• Parthenon (Athens, Greece)
• Classical antiquities > Expertising
• Archaeology > Methodology
• Plaster casts
• Friezes > Greece > Athens
• Antiquities
• Friezes
• Greece > Antiquities
• Greece
• Greece > Athens

Genre/Form

Informational works.

Note

• Revision of author's PhD thesis.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

The emergence of Fauvel and his successors -- Plaster casts, Elgin, and the British Museum -- Condition studies and the role of 3D imaging -- 3D imaging and the West Frieze -- 3D imaging and cleaning the Parthenon Sculptures -- An authentic source of evidence? -- Closing remarks.

Call Number

JFE 21-4423

ISBN

• 9781350120341
• 1350120340

LCCN

• 2020043353
• 40030520558

OCLC

1191182255

Author

Payne, Emma M., author.

Title

Casting the Parthenon sculptures from the eighteenth century to the digital age / Emma M. Payne.

Publisher

London, UK ; New York, NY : Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2021.

Copyright Date

©2021

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Form:

Online version: Payne, Emma M. Casting the Parthenon sculptures from the eighteenth century to the digital age [New York] : [Bloomsbury Academic], [2021] 9781350120358 (DLC) 2020043354

Other Standard Identifier

40030520558

Research Call Number

JFE 21-4423