greece and rome fitzwilliam museum

8/12/2019 Greece and Rome Fitzwilliam Museum

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Introduction

he Fitzwilliam Museums Greekand Roman Gallery presents art

and archaeology through objectsfound as far apart as Crete andCambridge, with a date range ofabout 3000 BC to AD 400. Marblegods and emperors rub shoulderswith painted pottery; bronzestatuettes, gold jewellery and silvercoins enjoyed by the living nd aplace alongside cofns and other

monuments to the dead.

The arrangement of the galleryis underpinned by chronology,so visitors wanting to follow theprogress of Greek and Romancivilisation can start with Case1 and proceed around the roomto Case 13. The central displaypresents the most spectacularpieces of Greek and Romanfunerary sculpture, for whichthe chronological tour can beinterrupted at any point. However,as each section tells its own story,you may well prefer to choose yourown route round.

Egypt

Ancient

Near

East

Ancient

Near

East

Cyprus

Map

Timeline

2

1

4

7

6 10

8 9

3

5

12

11

14

13

Greece

Rome

There are 693objects on display. This is about 12% ofthe Museums Greek and Roman objects - but because

it includes most of the larger works, its about 70%of the volume of the collection.

MAP

The gallery was lastrefurbished 47 years ago,

in 1963


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The Gallery

his display introduces theobjects through the people who

have inuenced their production,their survival, their arrival inCambridge and the way theylook today. Take Greek vases, forexample: Cases 4 and 7 focus ontheir ancient users, but in Case 2the display of fragments excavatedin Egypt in the late 19th centuryalso highlights their rediscovery.

Case 6 shifts the focus again,introducing the technology ofvase production, the potters andpainters, and a pair of moderncollectors, Charles Ricketts andCharles Shannon: on what groundsdid they make their selection? Whatmethods of restoration did theyfavour?

Many of the objects displayed herecan provide windows onto theworlds of Greece or Rome. Butunderstanding their later historytoo, the way they have been - andstill are - collected, studied andrestored, can help us appreciatehow deeply embedded classicalculture is in our own.

Rebuilding Greece & Rome

he Greek and Roman gallery re-opened to the public in January

2010, after eighteen months ofrenovation. During this period agreat deal was going on behind thescenes.

on: these included creating aroughly chronological layout, andleaving the colossal Caryatid in herold position high up on the eastwall of the gallery. We also wantedto move the Pashley sarcophagusto the centre of the gallery, wherethe raking light from the windowswould reveal the depth and beautyof its carving.The combined weight

of the two big marblecofns is 2265 kg(rather more than that

of an averagefamily car)

105 m2of glass wasused to make the

showcases

Every detail of the new displays,from the overall layout of thegallery to the lighting, the colourscheme and the specicationsof the plinths and showcases,was planned by a team fromthe Museum, the University ofCambridge Faculty of Classics, andexternal designers and contractors.

Between meetings, emails,drawings and photographs ewrapidly to and fro for comment andrevision. There were also visits toother museums and galleries to seehow problems similar to ours hadbeen tackled elsewhere.How did we decide on the newarrangement of the gallery? Somedecisions were made quite early

Other parts of the scheme, like the

grouping of the funerary sculptureon three steel trees around thecofns, emerged more gradually.As the subject and form of eachsection of the gallery were nalised,detailed plans were made for thelocation of individual objects.At the same time, we were hardat work preparing the objectsthat would eventually ll the newspaces.


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More than 1800cotton wool swabswere used during

the treatment of thepottery cofn inCase 3

Conservators workedon the mosaic niche

for 43days

At the start of the project, theA.G. Leventis Gallery of CypriotAntiquities was turned into atemporary storeroom for the newgallery, with extra cases for small

objects and sturdy racks to hold thesculpture. The condition of everyobject was recorded and many ofthem were cleaned. We examinedold repairs to assess whether weshould remove, replace or modifythem. Numerous mounts weremade, from simple Perspex rings for

round-bottomed pots to complex,custom-tted steel supports forevery piece of sculpture.

The labels are the result of a longprocess of research, consultationand debate. We asked a great manypeople how much information weshould include and what sort ofthings they wanted to know. Whatdid we ourselves want to say? What

worked well in other museums?By early January 2010 all thelarge pieces of sculpture hadbeen carefully positioned in thegallery by a team of specialiststone movers. Only then could theinstallation of the smaller objects,the labels and the lighting begin.Finally we were ready to welcomevisitors back for a completely newencounter with Greece and Rome.

948individual spotlightsilluminate the gallery -

890inside the cases and58on the ceiling.


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We asked Museum colleagues and others who worked on the new displayswhich objects particularly appealed to them.

About 4500 years ago, someone mouldedthis simple cup and rested it on a leafbefore ring - perhaps to stop it stickingto the table, but the pattern left isbeautiful. It shows how moments in

the past can leave impressions onobjects thousands of years later.

Abigail Baker, Antiquities volunteer

When the Cambridge Professor, E D Clarke, tookthis sculpture away from Eleusis in Greece in the

early nineteenth century, he said that the locals

thought that their crops would fail if it was removed.He thought they were primitive peasants. I alwayswonder if they were pulling his leg.

Mary Beard, Professor of Classics

There is something very arresting about thislittle group. You see rst its simplicity; just somerolled ropes of wax, squished together betweenthe ngers to formthe model fromwhich the bronzesculpture wascast. But then younotice that it is hasa touch of mystery- two oxen, yoked

to the same ploughbut going in oppositedirections?

Julie Dawson, Antiquities conservator

Shadowy eye-sockets rake thegalleryforget running. Wherever

you hide, Zeus messenger seesyou. Other deities have hassles,

but professional Hermes stays aloof.His narrow lips deliver the divine

message, while his whiskery chin jutsassertively. Quicksilver god, Hermes,

ender of strife, bringer of healing -forerunner of angels?

Clare Cambridge, Visitor Services

Cycladic cupGR.7g.1923 (Case 1)

The Eleusis caryatidGR.1.1865

Bronze model of a ploughing teamGR.4.1932 (Case 5)

Marble head of HermesGR.22.1850

Our Personal Choices


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It is human nature to feel anxious for news of loved ones undertaking longjourneys. Perhaps the rst owners of this grey marble relief depicting mythsof perilous voyages by sea were reminded of their nearest and dearest whilstindulging another natural impulse: the love of a good adventure story.

Gill Hart, Outreach and Access Ofcer

A tangled mass oflimbs, the sinuous curveof a serpents body,a torso gripped by amuscular arm it isnot immediately clearwhat is happening here.The sea-monster Tritondominates the sceneand the hero Heraklesis surprisingly almosthidden, identiableonly by his lion-skincape. I love the contrastbetween the ratherformal black-guretechnique and theturbulent struggle!

Christina Rozeik,Antiquities conservator

The revolutionarynaturalism of 5th-centuryBC Greek art is all themore remarkable whencarved in miniature andintaglio (negative form), ason the die from which thissilver coin was struck. Theseated satyr with a winecup, brilliantly posed to ll

the circular eld, illustratesthe all-too-human pursuitsof deities like Dionysosand his troop.

Timothy Potts, Director

This object connects me to theancient world by conjuring up a

vision of a young man looking outto sea watching some ying sh. He

sees this dolphin-shaped rock anddecides to carve a sh on it with his

name and 'I drew this' above it.

Bob Bourne, Antiquities technician

The Lansdowne ReliefLoan Ant.117

Naxian four-drachma silver coinCM.MC.7559-R (Case 7)

The Dolphin RockGR.1.1854

Black-gure water-jarGR.33.1864 (Case 7)


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While working on the t-out of the gallery I started to wonder about theperson who rst owned and used such an intricate tool, who designed it, whomade it and why Modern mechanical items show lots of imagination andskill in their conception and creation. For me, this single object highlights theskills of the people of the Roman Empire all those years ago.

Keith Spriggs, MER Services(contractor for the sculpture plinths and mounts)

I really enjoy this piece as I feel that it is possibly the best example of howfar weve come, and yet not very far at all. The ingenuity and the practicalityof the knife remind me that simplicity is often the best option.

Allison Kingsbury, Museum Facilities Manager

I've been to the red sandstone townof Brough - it's beautiful in summerbut utterly bleak in winter...

What did 'Hermes' think of this farnorthern border of the Roman Empire,so many thousand miles from hisMediterranean home? At least he diedamong Greek-speaking friends, whocarved his affectionate epitaph.

Lucilla Burn, Antiquities curator

How best to advertise expensive perfume?This scent bottle combines the exotic a blackAfrican, outlandish trousers, a palm tree with the soldier who is everyones sweetheart.This black soldier opens his arms to welcomeyou into his world, offering mystique whilepromising that his perfume wont compromiseyour reputation.

Robin Osborne, Professor of Ancient History

Roman Swiss Army KnifeGR.1.1991 (Case 12)

White-ground perfume askGR.5.1968 (Case 6)

The Brough StoneGR.1.1884


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'Feet of clay' is what I think when I see this object.Impractical to the extreme as actual footwear, but

serving a denite function of another kind, I like tothink that this person's foot was perfectly healthy

and that he / she just wanted new shoes.

Louise Jenkins, Antiquities technician

I constantly return to this wild andexotic grifns head - a small piecefrom a large bronze cauldron -drawn by its shape and texture.The gleaming surface of the

serpentine neck is broken by tinyscales or feathers. The cruellycurved beak and huge holloweyes are truly monstrous, but thetiny ears are surprisingly tame(domesticated?).

Kate Cooper, Antiquities curator

Continuing the Classical theme

he inuence of ancientGreece and Rome can be

felt throughout the FitzwilliamMuseum. The building itself is aneo-classical structure. Casts ofclassical statues stare down fromniches as you enter the FoundersBuilding. Female-shaped columnsor caryatids frame the door toGallery 3. How do these compareto their ancient counterpart from

Eleusis? Inside the gallery, a copyof the Parthenon frieze sets the tonefor viewing the paintings. PompeoBatonis 1758 portrait of The 7thEarl of Northamptonshows the Earlseated at a Roman-style table, onwhich stands a bust of Athena, theGreek goddess of wisdom and war.

In the eighteenth century,admiration for the Antique wasa crucial mark of education andculture.

Throughout the centuries, artistshave been inspired by the classicalpast, its stories and its physicalremains. In Tarquin and Lucretia(c. 1571) Titian depicts the rape ofthe noblewoman whose suicidesupposedly turned Rome frommonarchy to Republic. Even today,the ancient world continues toprovide inspiration for painters andsculptors.

Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787)The 7th Earl of Northampton

Tiziano Vecellio (Titian) (1480/5-1576)Tarquin and Lucretia

Clay votive shoeGR.39.1984 (Case 5)

Bronze cauldron attachmentGR.2.1975 (Case 2)


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The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation

The DCMS/Wolfson Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund

The Greek Ministry of Culture

The A.G. Leventis Foundation

The Stavros Niarchos FoundationThe Schilizzi Foundation

Denis and Minouche Severis

Trinity College, Cambridge,

and other individual benefactors

All images The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

Generously supported by:

The Fitzwilliam Museum's Education Department runs specially tailoredsessions for school parties in the Greek and Roman and Egyptian galleries.For information about these and other activities please visit:www.tzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/education/ or ring 01223 332904

To nd out more about the gallery project visit:www.tzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/ant/greeceandrome/

greece and rome fitzwilliam museum

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