Casting the Parthenon Sculptures from the Eighteenth Century to the Digital Age

Plaster casting was a widely-adopted technique in the 19th century to document and transmit discoveries from archaeological expeditions. The Parthenon sculptures were some of the first to be cast, and these casts were sent back to France and Britain where they were esteemed and displayed alongside other, original sections. 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. Sensitive 3D imaging techniques allow investigation of the surface markings of the objects in fine detail, and quantitative comparative studies comparing the originals and the casts reveal that the casts are even more accurate than anticipated.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 20 October 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Archaeology emerged as a systematic discipline in the 19th century, leading to the widespread adoption of plaster casting as a means to document and transmit discoveries from expeditions. The Parthenon sculptures were among the first to be cast, with French artist Fauvel and Lord Elgin's men conducting campaigns on the Athenian Acropolis in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They created casts of parts of the sculptures that they did not remove, which were sent back to France and Britain and esteemed and displayed alongside other original sections. Casting became an essential archaeological tool and grew exponentially over the century, becoming fascinating historical objects and time capsules that capture the details of important ancient works when they were first moulded in centuries past.

This book examines the role of 19th-century casts as archaeological resources and explores how their materiality and spread impacted the reception of the Parthenon sculptures and other Greek and Roman works. It investigates the historical context of the casts and combines it with analysis of new digital models of the Parthenon sculptures and their casts. Sensitive 3D imaging techniques allow for the investigation of the surface markings of the objects in exceptional detail, enabling quantitative comparative studies comparing the originals and the casts.

The 19th-century casts are found to be even more accurate than anticipated, but also complex, with multiple layers that reveal surface information lost from the originals due to weathering and vandalism. Through careful study of these casts, archaeologists can retrieve surface information that was previously unavailable, providing new insights into the history and preservation of these ancient works.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350216655