Kenneth D. S. Lapatin

This book is the catalog of an exhibit put on by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. As a specialized publication it may be difficult to locate. However, it is worth the search if you are interested in the bronzes of this era. Used copies may be expensive, but interlibrary loan is a possibility for those who would like to read the essays and examine the excellent photos. Because the metal could be melted down for other purposes, bronze sculptures are less common than marble or other stone. In addition to a description of each piece in the exhibit, grouped by various themes, the book contains essays on the techniques, history, uses and materials. I had not realized that such sculptures usually had inlaid eyes and insets of copper, silver or different bronze alloys to give color to lips, wounds or bruised, or nipples. The authors also explore the idea that Greek artists created deliberate forgeries of classic and archaic works for the Roman market.… (plus d'informations)

Reading this book formed part of research on memory retention and cultural memory through permanent objects over successive generations of human occupancy of the same geographic locations. This well-researched compilation explores bonds between humans with object intermediaries, the deep relationships between Greek and Roman daily life, how physical art and structures form part of daily interaction and conversation, and changing concepts and culture in both elite and average lives, as well as political and local social and private memories. Suggested reading for lessons from the past when creating public spaces for cultural memory, and spaces for cultural objects, and to provoke considerations of how time, changes in values and interpretations affect these efforts. A comprehensive and excellent bibliography.… (plus d'informations)

This is about much more than forged museum pieces. (We are belatedly recognizing the culpability of museums in archeological looting, so it's no surprise that institutional ability to avert ones eyes extends to more than just provenance.) Lapatin contends that much of what we think we know about Minoan civilization is a product of wishful thinking on the part of archaeologists and popularizers.

As Winston Churchill said, "History is written by the victors." A review of European history in the first half of the 20th century exposes the intentional rewriting of history by the Nazis to bolster their racialist agenda. Happily the Nazis were defeated, but how much of history has been written--perhaps unintentionally--by intellectual victors?… (plus d'informations)