Abstracts

Bronze thymiateria produced in Etruria from the Archaic to the Hellenistic age often include in their shapes components that make more or less explicit reference to specific properties of the artifacts themselves. These components can be abstract (e.g., series of superimposed discoid and lenticular elements) or figural (typically, human figures that support the stem of the thymiaterion, but also animals and isolated limbs such as legs). In both cases, they appear to underscore the aspects of gravity, lightness, and equilibrium.

This paper will argue that such aspects can be related to the actual functions of the incense-burners. They thereby serve as self-conscious visual commentaries on the perceived nature of these implements. At the same time, their analysis can also shed light on the multifaceted ways in which Greek ponderation was received and understood in Etruria.

A distinctive feature of Roman bronze devices is their figural idiosyncrasy: the sometimes charming, sometimes bizarre mixture of anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and floral forms employed for stems, legs, handles, and bodies. Vitruvius famously criticized such fanciful visual language in the vegetabilized architectures of Roman wall-painting; what has been sidelined in the discussions on Vitruvius and the monstra is that the wall-paintings merely elaborated motifs long established in furniture. In scholarship on furnishings, their hybrid composition was first appreciated as delightful and later, under the verdict of twentieth-century aesthetics, dismissed as superfluous ornamentation (“kitsch”). But it was never studied for what it can tell us about the notions associated with banquet accessories: corporeality, skillfulness, movement, and, not least, the physical energy—heat and light—produced by them.

This paper focuses on the figural and sculptural design of floor and table candelabra as well as select lamps from Pompeii and Herculaneum, which are part of a new research and database project on Roman lighting and heating devices in bronze led by the author in collaboration with Norbert Franken (Berlin). A large number of candelabra, largely unpublished, are held by the National Museum of Naples (270 specimens). Starting from this chronologically homogeneous group of lighting devices, the author will explore avenues toward a new conceptual framework that enables us to integrate the objects’ intriguing “sculpturalism” with other, often sundered aspects: their energy and matter (fire and metal), their production technique and functionality, their effect on space and ambience, and ultimately their precarious status as objects managed by slaves.

A considerable number of outstanding bronze artifacts were retrieved from the sanctuaries and the necropolis of Locri Epizefiri, including mirrors with figured handles, rare instruments related to the symposium, and refined appliqués, among others. Notwithstanding the attention these objects have received in the bibliography—especially regarding their function and symbolic values according to find contexts—several aspects still require investigation.

Most of these items are attributed to local workshops due to technical, iconographic, and stylistic considerations and, like other local products, are considered to be almost exclusively intended for the internal market.

The analysis of the features of Locrian bronze objects allows for a reassessment of the local productive milieu between the sixth and the fourth centuries BC, a period that is characterized by traditionalism, external influences, and hybridism, as well as originality in the choice of iconographies and in the creation of specific items. The Locrian case study provided a unique opportunity to understand the eclectic re-elaboration of patterns and morphology, and the adoption of novelty elements coming from different traditions, aimed at satisfying the tastes of the local elite. Besides, the recent reexamination of find contexts—namely the funerary assemblages—offers the opportunity to define an autonomous chronological system to be integrated with considerations deriving from stylistic analysis.

Ancient Messene in the southern Peloponnese is one of the most impressive and well-preserved cities of the Hellenistic/Roman era in Greece. Archaeological excavations from the early twentieth century to the present have revealed a site spanning around 13 square kilometers with fortifications, public buildings, and impressive burial monuments intra muros. Its museum houses a rich collection of metal artifacts dating from the fourth century BC to the fifth century AD, which includes everyday objects related to the activities and the customs of the Messenian society. This poster presents the author’s PhD research, a systematic multidisciplinary study of 380 representative copper-alloy objects, including toiletry and decorative objects, tools, instruments, vessels, weapons, figurines, and door and furniture accessories.

The study combines an archaeological (classification/typology), archaeometric (noninvasive scientific analyses), and conservation (condition survey using statistics) approach in order to better understand the technological characteristics of the collection. For the first time, the context of this important copper-alloy collection was related to the technological profile of both local and imported metal production, the function of the objects, and their significance to the local society. Specifically, the poster focuses on 10 bronze mirrors from dated burial contexts (from the third century BC to the first century AD) representing 3 distinct archaeological types. They are luxury items that are associated with the high society of ancient Messene. The technological characteristics, such as manufacturing, decorative, and surface techniques, were investigated using X-radiography, X-ray flourescence (XRF) and μ-XRF, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The chemical and/or mineralogical compositions of the copper alloy and corrosion layers were determined in order to identify techniques used to produce these bronze mirrors. The results indicate that a variety of manufacturing techniques were used to produce the mirrors, with three different methods employed to produce a reflective surface, using three different types of alloys for the metal substrate.

A fine caryatid mirror formerly in the collection of Julien Gréau was recently determined to be a pastiche of Greek and Etruscan, ancient and modern. It is well established that the corpus of bronze caryatid mirrors contains a large number of fakes. This paper analyzes the production of these objects within the social context of nineteenth-century Paris.

After decades of upheaval and transformation as a result of Hausmannization, cultural anxieties surrounding modernity resulted in an increased interest in collecting antiquities. While large numbers of Greek antiquities made their way into the European market as a result of expanded excavations as well as looting, many required heavy restoration in order to make them marketable to an increasingly bourgeois collecting public. The distinction between a restored object, a pastiche, and a total fabrication broke down over time, especially as the diminishing flow of Greek imports failed to keep up with demand.

Within the larger context of the antiquities market in late nineteenth-century Paris, I argue that bronzes were of special interest to collectors. On the one hand, metals were an essential aspect of industrialization, as symbolized most dramatically by the construction of la tour Eiffel for the 1889 Exposition universelle. In many ways, metals represented both a link with the past and a path to the future. Small-scale bronze sculptures were, like the terracotta Tanagras, easily replicable, affordable for a mass market, and conveniently displayed on a mantel or shelf. Finally, the caryatid mirror held special appeal on account of its functional familiarity, but also because the female figure provided a model for women just as the French feminist movement was redefining modern femininity.

The remains of a two-wheeled chariot were found accidentally in 2013 during work on the highway running between Niš and Dimitrovgrad in southeastern Serbia, at the Mađilka site near the village of Staničenje. More than forty iron objects, richly decorated, were discovered at a depth of about 6.5 meters during the mechanical removal of the southern half of a hillock on the right bank of the Nišava River. Right next to these items, partial skeletal remains of two horses were found. Archaeological investigation of the site revealed an elevated mound, 5 meters high and approximately circular, with a diameter of around 40 meters.

The chariot has the Roman suspension system. It is lavishly engraved with floral decoration made of inlaid brass and presents a work of art with high artistic value. The finds are dated to the first century AD (by radiocarbon method) and may be associated with the burial of a person of high social status.

The remains of the chariot were restored in the Conservation Department of the National Museum in Belgrade, and a reconstruction model of this unique ancient chariot was simultaneously built.

A rostrum (embolos in ancient Greek, “naval ram” in English) was an offensive naval weapon mounted on the prow of a ship at the waterline and was used to damage enemy warships. The rostrum was probably a Greek invention dating back to the sixth century BC and was considered a formidable offensive weapon for centuries. Its use required an experienced captain and a disciplined crew. Other rostra have been found in the Mediterranean and are not to be confused with cutwaters, also used to damage enemy warships. The Hellenistic Athlit rostrum was found south of Haifa (Israel) in 1980 and was dated to 220 BC. Its archaeological and metallurgical analysis data, based on physico-chemical and metallographic analyses, provided unique information about bronze-casting and the construction of warships during the Hellenistic period.

The present study is a scientific investigation of a rostrum found at a depth of 6 meters at Acqualadroni, 200 meters off the coast of Messina (Italy) in September 2008. Following its recovery, the rostrum was placed in a glass container full of demineralized water in constant flow to preserve the wooden parts.

The Acqualadroni rostrum is a metallic artifact with a fragile wooden part from the original warship still inside it. A blackish substance is present on some areas of the wood surface. The rostrum is 162 centimeters long and weighs about 250 kilograms. The thickness of the metal is approximately 2 centimeters. The rostrum is finely decorated on both sides with very faithful drawings of two kopis (single-edged curved swords) and a sword similar to a Hellenistic or Greek xiphos (a double-edged, single-handed sword) measuring 86 and 88 centimeters, respectively. The deformation of the blade on the right-hand side is attributable to collisions with other ships. It is possible to date the rostrum on the basis of such stylistic elements. Thus, its production date may range from the fourth to the second century BC. If the rostrum dates to the third century BC, it may have been mounted on a warship used in a naval battle during the Punic Wars (e.g., the battles of the Lipari Islands and Mylae). The metallic part was investigated by the University of Palermo (CGA) using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) for lead isotope analysis. The two wooden samples were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, 13C{1H} cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP MAS), NMR spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), ICP–OES, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The present investigation aims to provide information about the state of preservation of the wooden and metallic parts and to give some hints that could prove useful in conservation of the rostrum.

For more information on this topic, see https://www.academia.edu/3782220/