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3D imaging of the Parthenon sculptures: an assessment of the archaeological value of nineteenth-century plaster casts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2019

Emma M. Payne Open the ORCID record for Emma M. Payne [Opens in a new window]
Emma M. Payne*
Affiliation:
Department of Classics, King's College London, Strand, LondonWC2R 2LS, UK (Email: emma.payne@kcl.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Intent on recording in situ ancient sculptures at risk of deterioration, nineteenth-century archaeologists were at the forefront of an ambitious campaign of plaster-casting. Today, these surrogates preserve details now lost from the originals, but evaluation of their accuracy is of vital importance. Some of the earliest such casts are those held by the British Museum. This article investigates the efficacy of three-dimensional imaging for determining the accuracy of these casts, assessing whether they preserve lost information and whether they can be employed as reliable surrogates for the originals.

Keywords

GreeceParthenonClassical sculptureplaster casts3D imaging
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 93 , Issue 372 , December 2019 , pp. 1625 - 1642
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019

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