Dissertation

Greek sculptors: their employment, training and materials (with special emphasis on bronze)

Swaddling, Judith

1986

Overview

The products of the sculptor's workshop are considered from points of view that would have been of paramount importance to the sculptor himself (his status, income and technique) and also to his clientele (the cost and reasons for setting up statuary). The evidence is drawn mainly from the archaic to Hellenistic periods, but reference to Roman and later times is included for substantiation and comparison. The first section deals with the sculptor's market, stressing that statues were rarely, if ever, used solely for ornamental purposes before the Hellenistic period; even architectural sculpture had an allegorical or narrative theme. In short, statues were mainly for commemorative, honorary or votive use; this last category reveals a wide and fascinating range of motives. Various inferences are drawn about the sculptor's patrons. The location of statuary is discussed, with particular reference to the lay-out, organisation and upkeep of sanctuaries, the repair and re-use of statues. From revealing statistics concerning the numbers and types of bronze and marble statues set up on the Athenian Acropolis and at Olympia and Delphi, conclusions are drawn about the differing characters of the sanctuaries themselves and about the relative popularity of these materials at different periods. Next there is a consideration of the status of sulptors, with a critique of the available evidence and a summary of the changing attitudes towards sculptors from earliest times to the Roman period. The sources for the sculptor's training are assessed, as is the evidence for the initnerancy, general availability and versatility of sculptors. The organisation and ownership of permanent workshops is examined, with particular reference to excavated `workshops' and surviving representations of bronze-workers. The business aspect is discussed: commissions, contracts, division of labour, cost and supply of materials, retail price and the consequences of specialization are considered. Finally, there is an account of the techniques of bronze-casting used in antiquity. Bronze is given this emphasis as in general the practicalities of casting have been treated far less extensively than those of stoneworking. The archaeological and literary evidence is drawn upon and supplemented where possible by the writer's personal experience.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Museum studies