Date of Award

12-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master Art in Art History and Visual Cultures

Department

Art

First Advisor

Alexis Culotta

Second Advisor

Esperanca Camara

Third Advisor

Piper Hutson

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the period of de-restoration of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures in the 1970s. While three distinct periods of restoration history have been well-defined by scholars (17th to 19th century, the 1970s, and modern-day), the discussion of the motivations behind the focus on purism that led to de-restoration in the 1970s are lacking in the literature. The Lansdowne Herakles and the Aegina Marbles will be used in this analysis because of their illustration of the different periods of restoration history. While both the Lansdowne Herakles and the Aegina Marbles were de-restored in the 1970s, their fate in modern time diverges. The Lansdowne Herakles was once again restored in 1996, while the Aegina Marbles remain in their de-restored state. The different periods of restoration will be further explained using dominant authenticities: aesthetic, conceptual, material and historical. The addition of historical authenticity to discussions in previous literature is a critical part of understanding the modern take on restoration history. Using the legacies of the Lansdowne Herakles and the recovered pediment figures from Aegina, this study will use parallels to English historiography to explain the focus on hard facts and strict timelines of visual history that led to the de-restoration of many ancient sculptures in the 1970s.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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