Mary Harrsch's blog

Once more, the J. Paul Getty collection of antiquities may be depleted due to the repatriation of a 4th century BC bronze called 'Statue of a Victorious Youth' thought to be the work of Lysippos, a Greek sculptor who flourished under the patronage of Alexander the Great.

At the Fall 2009 Membership Meeting of the the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), Bernard Frischer, Director of the Virtual World Heritage Laboratory at the University of Virginia said his team of "digital humanists" that were responsible for the development of Rome Reborn are turning their attention to UNESCO-listed Hadrian's Villa, also known as Villa Adriana, in Tivoli. In his talk, Beyond Illustration: New Dimensions of 3D Modeling of Cultural Heritage Sites and Monuments (see the video at the bottom of this page), he discusses how 4D virtualisation would increase our knowledge of the ancient world.

When I was asked to select ten of my favourite images from the Flickr photostream of Heritage Key photographer Sandro Vannini, I wasn't sure how I would be able to choose just ten from a collection of images that are each so breathtaking. 

However, I discovered that his photostream at present only contains 88 images so my task was a little less daunting.  However, they are all such exceptional images I would not even begin to know how to rank them in any particular order so please don't assume I found image number one more pleasing than number 10! Here are my joint top 10 favourite images by Vannini.

Westworld, starring Yul Brynner, has been one of my all-time favorite movies since it was released back in 1973. Envisioned by Michael Crichton, Westworld was a fictional theme park where tourists could go to experience life in another historical period.  The park had a medieval world, a Roman world and, of course, Westworld, a recreation of the old American west.

Each world was populated with carefully programmed androids who behaved as people from each time period would have during their normal daily activities. Guests of the park were given appropriate clothing and instructed to assume the role of a character from the period. The inevitable malfunctions occur, and the droids run amok and gun down real people rather than their fellow robots, with real bullets.

In an effort to share their extensive collection of pottery from the American southwest with both museum and internet visitors, the Arizona State Museum is collaborating with the Center for Desert Archaeology on the Virtual Vault Project.  Models of each vessel are being created using 3DSOM Pro, a tool for automatically generating 3D models from photos of an object.  The software is produced by Creative Dimension Software Ltd.

A bust of the Roman Emperor Caracalla will be auctioned off October 28 by Bonham's.  The auction house estimates the bust will bring ₤250,000.  The lot description says the bust dates to the period after he murdered his brother and co-emperor Geta and their website lists the provenance as the current owner having a receipt from Mr. Dennis Leen, Beverly Hills, California dated 1976.  But Dennis and Leen is not a individual but an exclusive interior design company in Beverly Hills who curently specialize in high quality antique reproductions.

Each time I visit Pompeii I discover something new that I had not seen before.  Likewise, with exhibits about Pompeii and the ancient Roman communities surrounding Mount Vesuvius, I learn something about Roman culture that I had not encountered before.  Last week when I attended the exhibit, "Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around The Bay of Naples" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I was fascinated by information about and examples of archaeized Roman art of the 1st century BCE - 1st century CE.

%QUOTEArchaism is the term applied to art produced after 480 BCE that incorporates stylistic elements used in Greek art of the archaic period (700-480 BCE).  These elements include facial features, such as hair with spiral or corkscrew or tight curls across the forehead, high cheekbones, heavy lidded eyes or a slight smile.