Greek Sculpture and the Problem of Description [Hardcover]

This book examines how interpretation and examination of Greek sculpture are intertwined.When interpreting Greek statues, scholars have emphasized the importance of separating objective evaluation of evidence from interpretation, but in practice it has proved difficult to draw this distinction. This study examines the scholarship on a select number of well-known Greek statues from the eighteenth-century through the present.When interpreting Greek statues, scholars have emphasized the importance of separating objective evaluation of evidence from interpretation, but in practice it has proved difficult to draw this distinction. This study examines the scholarship on a select number of well-known Greek statues from the eighteenth-century through the present.Although scholars have emphasized the importance of isolating the objective evaluation of evidence from interpretation, in practice, it has proved difficult to determine the distinction. This study examines the scholarship on description for a select number of well-known Greek statues from the eighteenth-century through the present. The impact of the historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts of this specialized scholarship is demonstrated through considerations of issues such as ethnicity, psychology, theories about artistic form, and evolving conceptions of nude and clothed figures.1. The problem of archeological description; 2. Nikandre's dedication and the description of early Greek statuary; 3. The analysis of the clothed female form. This study should lead us to think much harder about the assumption of a genuinely empirical basis to our study of Greek sculpture, and particularly archaic material...This book is a valuable and nuanced encouragement to recognize some of our baggage and move beyond it; it will be interesting to see whether we have done so a few years down the line. - Elizabeth Moignard, University of Glasgow, Classical Bulletin