This translated catalog was produced for the title exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, held July 16, 2009-February 8, 2010. Iozzo (National Archeological Museum, Florence) and the Getty's senior curator of antiquities describe their collaboration for the loan of this large Etruscan bronze chimera dating to the 5th century B.C., its 16th century discovery in Arezzo, symbolism of the mythical creature, and place in classical art and Medici history.
The ancient Greeks believed monsters lurked on land, underwater, in the sky, and below Earth’s surface in the Underworld. Many tales tell of the Greek heroes who faced them. Plays, poems, paintings, and sculptures commemorating these tales have survived for centuries—and artists in all genres include them in their works. One of ancient mythology’s most horrible monsters was a fire-breathing lion with a snake for a tail and a goat’s head rising from the middle of her back. The Chimaera wreaked havoc in her native land by snatching up and eating livestock and people. It wasn’t until a young warrior named Bellerophon tamed another creature born from a monster—a huge flying horse—that this three-headed beast could be stopped. Read a version of the Chimaera myth, and learn a little about how this wild and unlikely story might have come to be.
This monograph studies the constructions of ‘impressive’ historical descent manufactured to create ‘national’, regional, or local antiquities in early modern Europe (1500-1700), especially the Netherlands. This was a period characterised by important political changes and therefore by an increased need for legitimation; a need which was met using historical claims. Literature, scholarship, art and architecture were pivotal media that were used to furnish evidence of the impressively old lineage of states, regions or families. These claims related not only to Classical antiquity (in the generally-known sense) but also to other periods that were regarded as periods of antiquity, such as the chivalric age. The authors of this volume analyse these intriguing early modern constructions of appropriate “antiquities” and investigate the ways in which they were applied in political, intellectual and artistic contexts in Europe, especially in the Northern Low Countries. This book is a revised and augmented translation of Oudheid als ambitie: De zoektocht naar een passend verleden, 1400–1700 (Nijmegen: Vantilt, 2017).
A “thrilling, well-researched” account of years of scandal at the prestigious Getty Museum (Ulrich Boser, author of The Gardner Heist). In recent years, several of America’s leading art museums have voluntarily given up their finest pieces of classical art to the governments of Italy and Greece. Why would they be moved to such unheard-of generosity? The answer lies at the Getty, one of the world’s richest and most troubled museums, and scandalous revelations that it had been buying looted antiquities for decades. Drawing on a trove of confidential museum records and candid interviews, these two journalists give us a fly-on-the-wall account of the inner workings of a world-class museum, and tell a story of outlandish characters and bad behavior that could come straight from the pages of a thriller. “In an authoritative account, two reporters who led a Los Angeles Times investigation reveal the details of the Getty Museum’s illicit purchases, from smugglers and fences, of looted Greek and Roman antiquities. . . . The authors offer an excellent recap of the museum’s misdeeds, brimming with tasty details of the scandal that motivated several of America’s leading art museums to voluntarily return to Italy and Greece some 100 classical antiquities worth more than half a billion dollars.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “An astonishing and penetrating look into a veiled world where beauty and art are in constant competition with greed and hypocrisy. This engaging book will cast a fresh light on many of those gleaming objects you see in art museums.” —Jonathan Harr, author of The Lost Painting
The archaeological finds at Herculaneum and Pompeii have rendered Naples an especially rich field for the study of the history of restorations, particularly of ancient bronzes. Bringing together the research of an international group of curators, conservators, archivists, and scientists, this extensively illustrated online volume examines the evolving practice of bronze restoration in Naples and other European centers from the eighteenth century to today. Presenting the results of new investigations, this collection of essays and case studies addresses the contexts in which the restorations took place, the techniques and materials used, the role of specialists, and changing attitudes to the display of these statues. Along with a rich selection of images, these texts offer a significant contribution to the history of restoration and conservation, providing valuable information regarding the evolution of taste and museum practices at a formative stage of modern archaeology. The essays collected here were written following a series of presentations at a one-day conference, “Restoring Ancient Bronzes in the Nineteenth Century,” held at the J. Paul Getty Museum on May 6, 2011. Each illustrated essay is accompanied by a separate gallery of large-format images to facilitate study and analysis. Edited by Erik Risser, associate conservator in the Department of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, and David Saunders, assistant curator in the Department of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, this collection is part of the Getty’s ongoing commitment to the online publication of scholarly conferences and symposia.
For the general public and specialists alike, the Hellenistic period (323–31 BC) and its diverse artistic legacy remain underexplored and not well understood. Yet it was a time when artists throughout the Mediterranean developed new forms, dynamic compositions, and graphic realism to meet new expressive goals, particularly in the realm of portraiture. Rare survivors from antiquity, large bronze statues are today often displayed in isolation, decontextualized as masterpieces of ancient art. Power and Pathos gathers together significant examples of bronze sculpture in order to highlight their varying styles, techniques, contexts, functions, and histories. As the first comprehensive volume on large-scale Hellenistic bronze statuary, this book includes groundbreaking archaeological, art-historical, and scientific essays offering new approaches to understanding ancient production and correctly identifying these remarkable pieces. Designed to become the standard reference for decades to come, the book emphasizes the unique role of bronze both as a medium of prestige and artistic innovation and as a material exceptionally suited for reproduction. Power and Pathos is published on the occasion of an exhibition on view at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence from March 14 to June 21, 2015; at the J. Paul Getty Museum from July 20 through November 1, 2015; and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, from December 6, 2015, through March 20, 2016.
Long ago, when gods and heroes walked the earth in triumph and tragedy, true love and epic deeds were set among the stars... In the city of ancient Corinth, Bellerophon grew up in the corridors of the palace, haunted by his father’s gruesome death, and distrusted and ignored by the rest of his own family. He now spends his life in the shadows of society, and that is how he prefers it. However, the Gods of Olympus have something more in mind for him. After a violent incident in the mountains, Bellerophon is banished from his home for all time. His path leads him to the court of an aged king in Tiryns where he is welcomed at first, but due to the spiteful queen, he is wrongly accused of another crime in a world that seems endlessly cruel. Dejected and uncaring of what happens to him and his hateful life, Bellerophon is sent across the sea to the court of King Iobates of Lykia. At the urging of his seer, the king welcomes Bellerophon as an honoured guest in his home, until he discovers the reason for his arrival. Seeking a way to be rid of Bellerophon, without violating the sacred laws of Zeus, King Iobates commands that he complete three impossible tasks to prove his innocence or bring about his death. With the world set against him, Bellerophon welcomes his imminent end. That is, until he meets the king’s daughter, Philonoe, the only person who has ever believed in him, and whose father has kept a dark secret from for many years. With the Gods and Lykia’s princess on his side, can Bellerophon prove his innocence and help save Lykia and its people? Will he finally accept the fate that the Gods have pressed upon him? Or will he succumb to the despair and hopelessness that have dogged him all of his life? Only by facing his deepest fears and a creature more terrible than any other of the Gods’ creation can Bellerophon truly succeed and become the hero he is meant to be... The Reluctant Hero is an epic retelling of the story of Bellerophon and the Chimera from Greek mythology. It is the fourth book in the Mythologia fantasy series by best-selling and award-winning author and historian, Adam Alexander Haviaras. If you enjoy books by Madeline Miller, Stephen Fry, Natalie Haynes or Jennifer Saint then you will love the Mythologia series. Read The Reluctant Hero today and witness the rise of one of the greatest heroes of the ancient world!
The latest title in Black Library's premium line. Perturabo - master of siegecraft, and executioner of Olympia. Long has he lived in the shadow of his more favoured primarch brothers, frustrated by the mundane and ignominious duties which regularly fall to his Legion. When Fulgrim offers him the chance to lead an expedition in search of an ancient and destructive xenos weapon, the Iron Warriors and the Emperor's Children unite and venture deep into the heart of the great warp-rift known only as 'the Eye'. Pursued by a ragged band of survivors from Isstvan V and the revenants of a dead eldar world, they must work quickly if they are to unleash the devastating power of the Angel Exterminatus
