Bronze Sculpture in the Classical World

Using a wide range of evidence, this book recreates the lost world of ancient bronze statuary – industry, collections, loss, and survival.

Greek and Roman bronzes were produced in multiples, but very few survived. This book examines ancient literary texts, workshop debris, and the surviving bits and pieces of bronze statues, and explores what they reveal about the appearance of an ancient city or sanctuary, as well as the market for bronzes.Bronze was a prized medium for sculpture in the classical world, as reflected by the remnants of the thousands of bronze statues of gods, dignitaries, and intellectuals that once filled its cities and sanctuaries. Today, only a few hundred statues are preserved, counting heads without bodies and bodies missing heads and limbs. Fortunately, the few survivors – pieces of bronze statues, scraps dumped by ancient bronze foundries, ancient texts, and occasional new finds – offer invaluable insights into the ancient bronze statuary industry. In this magisterial work, Carol Mattusch brings her deep knowledge of ancient technology to the study of bronze sculpture from multiple perspectives. Analyzing ancient literary testimonia together with the material evidence, she charts the production process from start to finished statues and to modern workshop analogies. Exploring standards for size, appearance, and placement of classical public statuary, her volume also considers issues related to Roman private collections of bronzes, including taste, production, means of acquisition, display, and loss or occasional survival of ancient bronzes.