Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Ebbinghaus, Susanne

Description: Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient...

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

This publication brings together prominent art historians, conservators, and scientists to discuss fresh approaches to the study of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern works of bronze. Featuring significant bronzes from the Harvard Art Museums’ holdings as well as other museum collections, the volume’s eight essays present technical and formal analyses in a format that will be useful for both general readers and students of ancient art. The text provides an overview of ancient manufacturing processes as well as modern methods of scientific examination, and it focuses on objects as diverse as large-scale statuary and more utilitarian armor, vessels, and lamps. Filling a current gap in the art historical literature, this book offers a much-needed, accessible introduction to ancient bronzes.

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Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Print publication date November 2014 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300207798

EISBN 9780300236842

Illustrations 113 Illus.

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Chemist Rutherfurd John Gettens works on the Harvard Art Museums' Horus falcon (1943.1118)
Francesca Bewer and Henry Lie examine bronzes in the Harvard Art Museums' Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies
The Age of Bronze
Striding figure with ibex horns, a raptor skin draped around the shoulders, and upturned boots
Head of a ruler
Foundation peg
Dagger blade with four rivets
Battle axe head
Striding male holding a vessel
Female statuette
Group of metallurgical tools from Palaikastro
Rod tripod stand
Beaked pitcher; x-radiograph showing darker ovoid marks made by the hammering process
Handle and top of an oinochoe (wine pitcher): detail of the fur-like texture created by the effects of corrosion on the microstructure of the metal
Quatrefoil fibula: detail showing the elongated fissures that follow the structure of the compacted metal
Lost-wax casting of a hollow statuette
Statuette group
Horus falcon
Horus falcon, x-radiograph showing hollow bird bones in the belly and core pin holes (small, elongated, dark spots) marked by arrows on the back and on the side of the crown
Fulcrum (couch attachment) terminating in a horse's head, with sleeping Ariadne and a bust of a maenad, detail of the back
Engraved mirror with Castor, Pollux, and swan, detail of cast-on repair on the handle
Bull's head attachment from a cauldron, view of underside showing the attachment pins
Female head (probably Aphrodite)
Female head (probably Aphrodite): view from below showing V-shaped cut-out neckline
Female head (probably Aphrodite): detail of recarving of hair
Handle and top of an oinochoe (wine pitcher)
Handle and top of an oinochoe (wine pitcher), detail of tool marks in decorative patterns
Head of a lynx, detail of incised lines
Belt with zoomorphic clasps, detail of clasp
Military diploma with Latin inscription: detail of incised lettering with burrs
Fibula with incised catchplate, detail of tremolo on horse and bird
Strigil
Strigil, close-up of handle
Strigil, x-radiograph revealing stamped patterns and inscription
Part of a box mirror, detail showing turning marks
Open-faced, "Illyrian" helmet, side view
Open-faced, "Illyrian" helmet, detail of pseudomorph in cheekplate
Fibula catchplate fragment, back-scattered electron (BSE) image through a sample from the fragment
Elemental map of the copper distribution in the sample, showing the depletion of copper in the corroded surface
Elemental map of the tin distribution in the sample, showing the enrichment of tin in the corroded surface
Open-faced, "Illyrian" helmet: photomicrograph of an etched metallographic cross section. The helmet's flange shows large equiaxed grains and bent annealing twins
Open-faced, "Illyrian" helmet: photomicrograph of an etched metallographic cross section. The helmet's wall shows highly defomed, elongated grains
Bull's head attachment from a cauldron, coarse dendrites on the tip of the broken horn
Pin head in the form of a winged horse
Hand cymbal with bull finial
Seven biconical beads from Olynthus (Greece)
Censer from Nuzi
Detail of Rutherford John Gettens's notes showing proposed electrochemical reduction of the Nuzi censer
Dagger
Intarsia panel
Intarsia panel, detail
Intarsia panel, detail
Cat
Cat, detail of fine inlay on proper left shoulder
Intarsia panel
Fulcrum (couch attachment) terminating in a horse's head, with sleeping Ariadne and bust of a maenad
Two-edged razor
Lunate razor
Lunate razor
Lunate razor
Openwork disc
Handle in the form of a leopard
Alexander with a lance ("Alexander Nelidov")
Statuette of a warrior
Berlin Foundry Cup, detail of tondo
Berlin Foundry Cup, detail of exterior
Berlin Foundry Cup, detail of exterior
Hand from a life-size statue
Part of a foot from a large statuette
Griffin protome from a cauldron
Griffin protome from a cauldron
Griffin protome from a cauldron
Computer-generated drawing from digital photograph of griffin protome
Julia Domna, front view
Julia Domna, back view, interior rods marked by arrows
Bust from the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum
Bust of the type of the marble Mantua Apollo (in Mantua, Palazzo Ducale)
Statue of the so-called Apollo Citarista from Pompeii, House of the Citarista
Statue of "Apollo" from Piombino
Statue of Apollo-type from Pompeii
Aphrodite holding a mirror and apple
Aphrodite wearing a bird headdress
Statue of Demosthenes
Inscribed small-scale portrait bust of Demosthenes
Small-scale portrait of Demosthenes
Statuette of a philosopher on a lamp stand
Portrait statuette of the Greek orator Demosthenes
Portrait statuette of the Greek orator Demosthenes
Portrait statuette of the Greek orator Demosthenes
Portrait statuette of the Greek orator Demosthenes
Axe head and shaft hole with feline decoration
Corinthian helmet
Chigi vase, detail
Mitra
Bow fibula: horses, birds, and fish
Horse-shaped cheek piece for a bridle
Griffin protome from a cauldron
Cauldrons, bowls, and collapsed tables as found in Tumulus MM at Gordion
Bull's head attachment from a cauldron
Hydria (water jar) with siren attachment
Lamp stand in the form of a tree
Six-nozzled suspension lamp with heads and ship's prows: seen from the side
Six-nozzled suspension lamp with heads and ship's prows: seen from below
Two-nozzled suspension lamp with lion protomes and Pan's heads
Lamp with handle in the form of a horse
Lamp handle with panther's head, detail
Lamp handle with panther's head
Lamp handle with panther's head, detail
Lamp hanger
Lamp hanger with inscribed "tabula ansata" dedicated to Theos Hypsistos
Lamp in the shape of a trussed gazelle
Lamp in the shape of a trussed gazelle
Lamp in the shape of a trussed gazelle, detail

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Contents

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Contents

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

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Director’s Foreword

Thomas W. Lentz

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Director’s Foreword

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

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Acknowledgments

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Acknowledgments

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

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Introduction

Susanne Ebbinghaus

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Relatively rare today, bronze is of great historical significance as a material for human-made objects. Even though it was never as ubiquitous as stone, wood, or clay, it was sufficiently common to have given its name to an entire epoch. Sculptures and artifacts from a variety of cultures and periods and of vastly diverse...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: BronzeBronzes, AncientArt collectionsArt museumsArt historians

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1. The Age of Bronze in Greece, Cyprus, and the Near East

Sean Hemingway

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

The use of bronze has long been considered a defining characteristic of the earliest civilizations. In coming to terms with human origins, the ancient Greeks, as recorded in Hesiod’s poem Works and Days (lines 105-201), devised a chronology of the five ages of mankind: a Golden Age, a Silver Age, a Bronze Age...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: Bronzes, AncientBronze age--Aegean Sea RegionBronze age--CyprusBronze age--Middle EastBronze--Metallurgy

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2. Ex Aere Factum: Technical Notes on Ancient Bronzes

Henry Lie and Francesca G. Bewer

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Sometime in the early 1620s, a group of foreign artists studying antiquities in Rome had a debate about what makes for excellent bronze casting. The Flemish sculptor François Du Quesnoy (1597-1643) and the German artist Joachim von Sandrart (1606-1688) decided to climb up onto the equestrian monument to Emperor Marcus...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: Bronzes, AncientBronze--MetallurgyArtists' materialsArt--Technique--HistorySculpture--Technique

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3. Analytical Approaches to Ancient Bronzes

Katherine Eremin and Josef Riederer (Contributor)

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Analyses of ancient bronzes increase our understanding of individual objects and the cultures that produced them by providing information on movement of materials and the development of technologies. Analytical investigations of the composition of ancient “bronzes” have been ongoing since at least the late eighteenth...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: Metallurgical analysisBronzes, AncientCopper alloysChemistry, MetallurgicArt--Technique--History

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4. Approaches to the Identification and Classification of Ancient Bronzes in Museum Collections

Lisa Anderson

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Part of a museum’s mission is to document and study all objects in its care. Many museums include this policy in an official mission statement. That of the Harvard Art Museums is “to preserve, document, present, interpret, and strengthen the collections and resources in their care, and in keeping with the larger...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: Bronzes, AncientCataloging of artArt criticismArt collectionsClassification

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5. Artists and Workshops: The Craft and the Product

Carol C. Mattusch

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

The study of large-scale classical statuary has usually been approached by way of connoisseurship, not workshop practices. To identify an artist’s workshop, scholars have traditionally used stylistic similarities among the finished products to recognize the hand of an artist or his followers. Proveniences do not come into the argument because they are rarely, if ever, known. One of...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: Bronzes, AncientArt--Technique--HistoryArt criticismArt--ForgeriesSculpture--Technique

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6. Roman Bronze Statuettes: Copies of Greek Sculpture?

Adrian Stähli

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Roman bronze statuettes largely follow a repertoire of visual motifs and iconographic types that had been developed in...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: Bronzes, AncientPortrait sculpture, ClassicalSculpture--TechniqueInfluence (Literary, artistic, etc.)Copying

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7. Men of Bronze— Cups of Bronze: Bronze in the Iron Age

Susanne Ebbinghaus

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Bronzeworking in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East reached its apogee in the first millennium BCE, well after the end of the Bronze Age. Anthony Snodgrass, a specialist in Greek archaeology, has drawn attention to “the paradoxical fact that a developed Iron Age culture may be...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: Bronzes, AncientArmor, AncientIron ageBronze implementsCivilization, Greco-Roman

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8. The Lure and Lore of Light: Roman Lamps in the Harvard Art Museums

Ruth Bielfeldt

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Roman bronze furniture has not received the scholarly attention it deserves, and that is, first and foremost, a matter of taste. The flamboyant and fantastic bronze creations of the early imperial period appear to violate key design principles of twentieth-century home furnishing: namely, purity and functionality. Roman...

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Subjects: Bronzes, AncientLamps, RomanIconographySymbolism in artCivilization, Greco-Roman

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Bibliography

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

Bibliography

Author

Susanne Ebbinghaus (Editor)

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

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Ancient Bronzes through a Modern Lens: Introductory Essays on the Study of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes

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