Irene Avola - Archaeology in support of national identities: why is it necessary to destroy plaster casts of ancient art?

societes-plurielles:11290 - Sociétés plurielles, May 10, 2023, 7 | 2023 - Identity versus science? Science at the service of identity? - https://doi.org/10.46298/societes-plurielles.2023.11290
Archaeology in support of national identities: why is it necessary to destroy plaster casts of ancient art?Article

Authors: Irene Avola ORCID1

  • 1 Anthropologie et Histoire des Mondes Antiques

Following the example of Germany and after 1870s, plaster casts of ancient art are subject to a “cultural transfer” in France and in Italy. This kind of process reflects the birth of archaeology as a science; it is aligned to a specific change in higher education and it allows a nation building / re-building (by referring to Italian and French examples). In addition, the consolidating nation process is based on a cultural mechanism caused by globalization, i.e. “inventing tradition”. The “myth of white Greece” or that of “Romanity” can be taken into account in order to justify the destruction of plaster casts of ancient art.


Volume: 7 | 2023 - Identity versus science? Science at the service of identity?
Section: Articles
Published on: May 10, 2023
Imported on: May 10, 2023
Keywords: plaster casts,plaster cast gallery,pedagogical and scientific tool,ancient sculpture,archaeology of art,history of archaeology,cultural transfer,inventing traditions,national identities,moulages,tirages en plâtre,gypsothèques,instrument pédagogique et scientifique,sculpture antique,archéologie de l’art,histoire de l’archéologie,transfert culturel,invention de la tradition,identités nationales,calchi,riproduzioni in gesso,gipsoteche,strumento pedagogico e scientifico,scultura antica,archeologia dell’arte,storia dell’archeologia,transfert culturale,invenzione della tradizione,identità nazionali,[SHS.ANTHRO-SE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Social Anthropology and ethnology,[SHS.ART]Humanities and Social Sciences/Art and art history,[SHS.HIST]Humanities and Social Sciences/History,[SHS.MUSEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Cultural heritage and museology

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