New Aspects of Roman Ideal Sculpture in Side
New Aspects of Roman Ideal Sculpture in Side
Disciplines
History, Archaeology (100%)
Keywords
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Contextual Studies,
Roman Sculpture,
Ideal Sculpture,
Production,
Display of sculptures,
Side
Sculptures from Side are among the best preserved sculptural material in Asia Minor. The site of Side, located on the trade route to Egypt and the Levant, favoured an economic growth of the antique harbour especially in the 2nd and 3rd c. AD. Side developed into one of the richest cities in Pamphylia and the southern region of Asia Minor. More than 400 sculptures from the Roman period (statues, fragments, heads, statuettes, etc.) came to light during the excavations from 1947-1966 in Side. In the application the ideal sculpture (male and female figures of gods/goddesses, heroes, athletes) will be examined in context of production, time and space. In the last few years, scholars have pursued more deeply questions of reworking and reusing of statuary, and issues regarding workshops and craftsmen, and have made great progress in these areas. No such contexts have been examined regarding the sculpture from Side. The aim of this research is to understand the role played by workshops with regard to style and technical aspects, as well as the distribution and erection of sculptures in the imperial period. 1. Sculptures in context (provenance/find-spot; erection; customers, benefactors; historical context) 2. Questions of production and workshop (provenance of marbles/marble analysis; studies of style and technique of the figures; sculptors and the epigraphic evidence; comparative studies of sculpture from other sites). The topic will be examined according to the following methods: It is planned to take marble samples from a majority of the sculptures in order to gain information regarding the provenance and distribution of marble from certain quarries for the sculptures in Side and in the region of Pamphylia. Furthermore, the sculptural material will be examined from the viewpoint of technical and stylistic elaborations to obtain information about workshop traditions, itinerant and local workshops, import, export and the distribution of sculpture. In addition, whether similar sculptures in Side und Perge were produced in the same workshop will be investigated. The interpretation of sculptures in the scope of the Second Sophistic in Asia Minor in the 2nd c. AD is also a subject of the study. Furthermore, the historical context, the erection of statues, customers and clients as well as the occasion of the erection has to be examined. Moreover, the question of an iconographic program will be discussed as well as possible reasons for the selection of figure types. Evidence for reworking and reuse of sculptures, epigraphic and numismatic evidence also has to be considered. The study will be undertaken by the applicant in cooperation with the requested research personnel (N.N.), the University of Leoben (marble analysis), the Anadolu Üniversitesi Eskisehir, the excavation and the Museum in Side.
- Walter Prochaska, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften , associated research partner
- Hüseyin Alanyali, Anadolu University - Turkey
- Serap Erkoc, Anadolu Üniversitesi - Turkey