Bronze Head Research Articles

Roman original or deliberate fake?

A private collection in Cordoba contains a previously unpublished bronze head. It is not a Roman original. Its iconographic incongruences and its intentional fractures suggest a malicious intention in its manufacture. It is possibly a fake that someone intended to introduce in the art market. A second bronze portrait of the same personage belongs to a private collection in Murcia. It has similarly never been made known. It is also a modern sculpture, confirming the non-ancient origin of the bronze in Cordoba. The joint study of the two objects can serve as a methodological example of the procedure to detect modern fakes of bronze portraits with an antique appearance.

Scythian and Sarmatian Weapons in Shilovsky District Museum of Local History

During the early Iron Age, the Middle Oka Region was inhabited by Gorodets tribes. The collection of Scythian and Sarmatian weapons in Shilovsky District Museum of Local History is mainly comprised with accidental finds made by locals and materials discovered by exploration researches. Shilovsky District of Ryazan Region is situated at the border between mixed and broad-leaved forests. Back in the early Iron Age they were occupied by Gorodets tribes. The indigenous people were engaged in hunting, fishing and cattle breeding. The area is fringed with forest-steppe vegetation in the south. It provided access to steppe nomadic invaders. It is proven by finds of Scythian and Sarmatian weapon. Scythian iron arrowheads have three blades, narrow triangular proportions and a bushing longer than the fletching. Similar arrowheads are typical for Scythian antiquities found in the Middle Don River and dated 4th–3rd century BC. Iron tanged triple-bladed arrowheads have Sarmatian origins and date back to 3rd–1st century BC. Iron acinaci are severely damaged with corrosion, which prevents establishment of their typology and chronology. The original find is a combat knife with a ring pommel and a single-edged blade Single-edged bladed weapon was created under oriental influence. The early Scythian is the period an iron spearhead with a C-shaped bushing is dated. It is transition from bronze heads to iron ones. One of the rare finds is a bell-shaped copper helmet. It has signs of damage that obstruct its typological identification. Its closest equivalents are the Montefortino helmets and pilei. Having analysed the collection of artefacts it can be concluded that the Gorodets people and steppe nomads were actively interacting at war during the entire Scythian-Sarmatian epoch. The research fails to confirm that the steppe nomads were trade intermediaries between the Antique Black Sea area and the forest zone people

Imaging Hadrian in Britain between Coinage and Sculpture: A New Digital Approach to the Study of Roman Imperial Portraiture

AbstractThis paper presents a new approach to an old problem, the provincial reception of the image of Roman emperors. Applying 3D computer modelling, we captured the portrait features of Hadrian as represented on coinage minted for the British province, produced a 3D model from a coin and compared it with the bronze head of Hadrian found in London. The aim was to test the possibility, previously posited by other scholars, that the London portrait might have been produced by an artisan who used coin portraits of the emperor as his main – if not only – model. More generally, the paper examines the dependencies of coinage and sculpture on shared models and applies new technology to Roman portrait studies.

Bronze Head of a Black Woman: Renaming and Reframing a Brâncuși Series

In this paper I explore Constantin Brâncuși’s N*gress 1923–33 series, focusing mainly on the Bronze Head of a Black Woman (1926) in the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA), previously known as Blond N*gress. I begin by questioning the validity of the art historical canon and provide readers with a practical example of narrative reconstruction using an ethics-focused, feminist approach formed and executed within the walls of the TMA. I follow this with a broader investigation of Brâncuși’s representations of women to develop a more nuanced look at this canonical figure, while taking into consideration the author’s work with Bronze Head of a Black Woman. I conclude with a brief discussion on perceptions of value in the art world and the importance of continually reassessing museum narratives.

Study in the Bronze Head of the Akkadian Revealed in Nineveh

One of the most outstanding Akkadian metal sculptures is the so called ''Bronze Head'' discovered in Nineveh. This elaborate highly polished work of art is a remarkable work bearing witness to the Akkadian sculptor's long expenence which is full of life and delicate senses. One can say that the sculptor laid through this work the foundation of the oldest sculpture school in the world. The Bronze Head reflects an image of a royal character, there are many opinions of researchers about return to Šarru-kin (Sargon) the founder of the Akkadian dynasty, or to one of his sons or grandsons. Some pieces of evidence collected from the available artistic samples are presented in this reading to prove the attribution of the Bronze Head to king Šarru-kin( Sargon) of Akkad. The reading elaborates on the style of achieving this work and the characteristics which make the audience feel its liveliness. Indeed, these characteristics clearly express the deeply-rooted charm of the sculpture and reflect the skill of the sculptor in treating, casting and engraving the solid metal of bronze into a hollow bullion.

"Reformulating circulation and distribution spaces from the House of the Bronze Head in Pollentia: a comparative approximation with the high-imperial domus of Roman Africa"

The “House of the Bronze Head” is a domus located in Sa Portella, one of the residential areas of the Roman City of Pollentia. Relevant issues regarding its interpretation remain undetermined, mainly because of the partial knowledge that exists of its architectural layout. As with other houses in the same residential area, defined by their symmetry, this house reveals several features regarding its spatial distribution and connectivity, specifically those of its peristyle and entrances. These issues highlight the need to search for parallels in North Africa that can clarify how this domus would have been organized and how it would have functioned.

Betting on RNAi for crop protection

The spotted bronze head and shiny black-and-yellow-striped wings of the Colorado potato beetle are an unwelcome sight for farmers. Though larvae and adults feed primarily on potato plants, the Colorado potato beetle also eats other plants in the Solanaceae family, otherwise known as the nightshades, famed for the potent alkaloid content in their leaves. To cope with eating the toxic leaves of these plants, the beetle has evolved mechanisms to metabolize toxins, including chemical pesticides . This ability has helped it become the world’s biggest potato pest since spreading from the Southwest US in the 1850s. Russ Groves, a professor and extension specialist in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Entomology Department, has been studying insecticide resistance in agricultural systems for decades and says the potato growers he works with are all too familiar with the beetle’s special ability. “So if your question is, ‘Do Colorado potato beetles generate resistance?’ ” he says,

Cultural diplomacy in the acquisition of the head of the Satala Aphrodite for the British Museum

Abstract The current location and curatorial display at the British Museum of a Hellenistic bronze head of the goddess Anahita in the guise of Aphrodite, found at Satala (Asia Minor), reveal little of the importance ascribed to it at the time of its acquisition, or of the complex route by which the head came to form part of the museum’s collection. Detailed examination of archival documentation relating to this acquisition shows how, despite nineteenth-century Ottoman and Italian legislation in relation to antiquities, this head and its accompanying bronze hand were found in the province of Armenia, sold by an Ottoman diplomat to a private collector in Rome and used to secure the sale of a collection of jewellery to the British Museum. The journey of the head illustrates the importance of diplomatic channels, the workings of the nineteenth-century European trade in art and antiquities and how museums, diplomats and collectors were able to assemble collections.

Restytucja dóbr kultury utraconych przez Chińską Republikę Ludową na przykładzie odzyskiwania brązowych głów zwierząt z Yuanming Yuan

Restitution of cultural property by the People’s Republic of China on the example of the recovery of the brown heads of animals from Yuanming Yuan Restitution of cultural goods is a very complicated issue in practice, encountering many problems on its way. Most international conventions, including the 1970 UNESCO Convention and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention, provide for non-retroactivity of their provisions and a limited time to bring claims for reimbursement. Another problem is the still low number of ratifications of both conventions, especially the one from 1995. Also, the national legislation of many countries still does not contain regulations in this area and appropriate restitution instruments. Once the Chinese government realized the value of its cultural heritage treasures as a source of national and political identity, it began the process of restoring looted cultural assets. This is not an easy task, because a large part of the objects was stolen a long time ago, which directly prevents the application of international legal regimes resulting from conventions on the return of stolen or illegally exported goods. The case of bronze statues from the Yuanming Yuan shows another way to recover looted cultural goods. It is based primarily on the national identity of Chinese society, which treats looted artifacts as an important element of their history and culture. Thanks to private collectors and entrepreneurs who had bought such objects and then donated them to Chinese museums and institutions, it was possible to regain many of the lost cultural goods. The aim of article is to provide a general overview of the People’s Republic of China’s restitution policy, its methods and effects, using the example of the recovery of Chinese bronze heads stolen from Yuanming Yuan.

The “Head of the Philosopher” from Porticello: Proposal for the Identification

The history of the accidental discovery of the Porticello wreck in Villa San Giovanni is long and complex. The wreckage was found fortuitously in 1969 by a local diver, and the following year it was studied by an underwater excavation mission of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Thanks to this research, we know that the ship sank in the waters of the Strait between 400 and 375 BC. We also know that it carried various amphorae types, as well as achromatic inkwells and small ingots. Together with these materials, the archaeologists recovered parts of bronze statues, demolished, and systematically broken into pieces. They are not ancient statues ruined by the passage of time: both the “Porticello Philosopher” and the “Head of Basilea” are real masterpieces of Greek classical art, which, given their conservation conditions, have not been exhibited for a long time. It is surprising how, in the scientific debate on the Porticello wreck, the history of the discovery site has never been considered. The name itself, Porticello (in Italian: “small port”) makes us understand its ferry landing function. The study of the sources and the surface archaeological investigations allow us to give an ancient name to the locality: the Roman statio of Ad statuam, Ad columnam. There were many hypotheses made by specialists: Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway has hypothesized a group including Achilles, an unknown character, and the centaur Chiron (the “Porticello Philosopher”), with features considered “monstrous”. Enrico Paribeni proposed a statuary group, with an old man leaning on a stick. Ross Holloway speculated a portrait of Charondas of Catania, author of the political constitution at Rhegion. Angelo Maria Ardovino identifies in the bronze head simply a philosopher. Joseph Frey was thinking of the portrait of the Greek tragedian Sophocles. Paolo Enrico Arias thought to a portrait of the poet Hesiod. Other hypotheses speak generically of a prophet, remembered in one of the ancient epic cycles. Aiming to give a name to the philosopher depicted with such physiognomic precision, our research will begin with a reading of the signs left in the bronze statue, trying to give each one an interpretation. Our goal is to provide the integration of what was present on the statue, but which has been lost. In the end, the comparison with other ancient statues allows us to hypothesize the portrait of the philosopher Pythagoras of Samos.

Женские погребения могильника Кичигино I в контексте особенностей погребального обряда ранних кочевников Южного Урала

The article concerns female burials in the Early Iron Age cemetery Kichigino I. In total, 10 kurgans were investigated. The mounds contained burials dated from 7th to 2nd—4th centuries BC. At least seven women were buried in the kurgans. There were burials of varying degree of preservation. Five burials were provided with anthropological identification. The age of the buried at the time of death is from 25—35 to 45—55 years old. Grave goods included numerous ornaments, including gold jewelry, ritual and domestic items and weaponry. Three burials from mound 3, all related to the Early Sarmatian period (4th century BC), were especially interesting in terms of grave goods. Large quiver sets of arrows with bronze heads were found in two graves (pits 3 and 4). Items of the high social status (gold ornaments in the animal style, bronze vessel and ritual things) were discovered in grave 5. In general, female burials from the cemetery Kichigino I fit well into the context of the funeral ritual of the Southern Ural early nomads both in terms of grave goods and the way of disposal of the dead.

Conversation about Monument for Chelsea Manning with Professor Rosalyn Deutsche, New York, June 7, 2018

Recorded and edited conversation with Professor Rosalyn Deutsche, New York, June 7, 2018. This conversation took place as part of the project Monument for Chelsea Manning, an ongoing attempt to permanently site a traditional bronze head and shoulders in the small market town of Haverfordwest, Wales. Published in the journal Arts & International Affairs.

The Poetry of Civic Nationalism: Jackie Kay’s ‘Bronze Head From Ife’

This article examines the work of the newly-minted Scots makar, Jackie Kay, charting her development as a black Scottish writer committed to the interrogation of identity categories. McFarlane focuses in particular on ‘Bronze Head from Ife’, a poem in Kay’s most recent collection Fiere (2012), and elucidates the synthesis this poem offers of Kay’s Nigerian and Scottish roots, invoking both Burns and Nigerian artwork to offer a form of civic nationalism that embraces difference and multiplicity.

Bronze head with Suebian nodus from Aquincum

In 2012 a small head with Suebian nodus was uncovered in Aquincum, the first one ever from this site. Despite filling a gap on the map and thus bringing us somewhat closer to understanding these interesting representations, it still leaves a number of questions unanswered.

Schiz-ability

The visitor to Karl Marx's Grave in London's highgate cemetery is confronted by a large polished granite plinth, atop which squats an imposing bronze head and shoulders of Marx. Although the artist Laurence Bradshaw designed the rectangular plinth as a proxy for Marx's body, the effect is still to emphasize the head, the supposed locus of Geist, esprit, intellect. Marx was a headworker, it is true. Even in the depths of poverty, plagued by bodily ailments, he was never obliged to purvey körperliche Arbeit (“body work,” “manual labor”) in the restricted sense—that is, a körperliche Arbeit located in a social split that structurally denies the body worker access to the abstractions of a developed geistige Arbeit (“intellectual labor”).

A case of mistaken identity? Laser-scanning the bronze “Claudius” from near Saxmundham

The lifesize bronze head of a male (fig. 1) in the Weston Gallery of the British Museum is one of the most iconic artefacts of Roman Britain. Widely interpreted as a portrait of the emperor Claudius forcibly removed from a statue in or near the temple of Claudius at Colchester by British insurgents during the Boudiccan Revolt of A.D. 60/61, it has never been reported upon in detail,1 and there has recently been some dispute as to both its identity and its significance.2 In an attempt to produce an accurate record of the head whilst simultaneously addressing issues surrounding its identity, the nature of its decapitation and subsequent disposal, the artefact was subjected to a three-dimensional laser scan, the results of which are discussed here.

Yeats and Maud Gonne and “A Bronze Head”

Yeats and Maud Gonne and “A Bronze Head”

Multi-instrumental analysis of asphalts of archaeological interest

Use was made of thermal and other techniques to characterise three native asphalt samples. The purpose was to support archaeological investigations reconstructing their thermal history and composition. The first sample (from a Roman quarry in central Italy) proved to have 37% impurities, no sign of oxidation or degradation and to have never been heated to above 100°C. The second sample (from a Roman ship sunk south of France) was pure, but partially oxidised, with a saturated fraction in its structure. Analyses of the latter sample, obtained from the eye of a Thracian bronze head, revealed that the asphalt had been heated to over 100°C and then mixed with natural wax.

The casting core composition and provenance of the Goljamata Kosmatka (Bulgaria) bronze head

The composition of casting core residues from the interior of a 4th century BC bronze head, unearthed in a Thracian tomb of central Bulgaria, was studied by means of petrographic, SEM, chemical and XRD analyses. Results indicated that the sand–clay mixture is dominantly rich in rock and mineral fragments, mostly derived from metamorphic and plutonic silica-rich rocks. No significant compositional differences were noted between the five analysed samples, except for content of bronze impurities and oxidation products. On the basis of geological studies and of chemical comparison with potteries of various ages, speculations were made about the location of the bronze foundry. The results are compatible with a derivation of the casting core from northeast Greece and the southern areas of F.Y.R.O. Macedonia and Bulgaria have terrains compatible with the casting core composition

Romanesque Sculpted Portraits: Convention, Vision, and Real Presence

Although it has often been assumed that "true portraiture" was absent for most of the Middle Ages, medievalists have proposed that personal portraits were revived in conjunction with the "rediscovery of the individual" in the twelfth century, thus anticipating the celebrated renaissance of the individual in the fifteenth century. Focusing on the Cappenberg bronze head of Frederick I Barbarossa and related sculpted images in metalwork depicting both saints and lay individuals, this paper reassesses traditional definitions of portraiture that are bound to the notion of a unique physiognomic likeness. It is argued here that Romanesque portrait sculpture deliberately celebrated the "individual" as an ideal type rather than a unique personality. The portrait likeness was designed to convey a palpable and engaging presence of the individual through a series of carefully calibrated conventions that are paralleled in secular and religious biography. Material radiance and idealized, stereotyped physiognomies with prominent eyes were cultivated in art and literature as the means of revealing the virtue, character, and presence of the individual. The revival of portrait sculpture after a long hiatus may also be understood as reflecting a renewed confidence in the capacity of corporeal vision as the means of access to the spiritual, and an emphasis on corporeal presence in the display of relics and in Eucharistic performance.