The Dying Niobid; Living On. A cultural biography on the life of a Greek statue in Rome

This thesis explores the biography of the Dying Niobid, a fifth century BC Greek statue that was found in Rome. Previous research on Greek sculptural art has mainly focussed on the objects as a representation of the Classical Greek period. When looking at the Dying Niobid it becomes clear that this sculpture, one among a great body of Greek sculptures brought to Rome, has functioned in more than one context throughout its life, the ‘Greek’ context being just one of them. Therefore the question to be asked must no longer be what does the object represent, but what does it do in these different contexts? With the object as point of departure, this research will focus on the “active” role of the Dying Niobid in terms of power, influence and agency. To enable this, the main objective for this thesis is to apply a fundamentally different approach and methodology to Greek sculptures in Rome; a “cultural biographical approach” to objects. Through the methodology of the cultural biography,...Show moreThis thesis explores the biography of the Dying Niobid, a fifth century BC Greek statue that was found in Rome. Previous research on Greek sculptural art has mainly focussed on the objects as a representation of the Classical Greek period. When looking at the Dying Niobid it becomes clear that this sculpture, one among a great body of Greek sculptures brought to Rome, has functioned in more than one context throughout its life, the ‘Greek’ context being just one of them. Therefore the question to be asked must no longer be what does the object represent, but what does it do in these different contexts? With the object as point of departure, this research will focus on the “active” role of the Dying Niobid in terms of power, influence and agency. To enable this, the main objective for this thesis is to apply a fundamentally different approach and methodology to Greek sculptures in Rome; a “cultural biographical approach” to objects. Through the methodology of the cultural biography, it is possible to take all of the contexts in which the object has functioned in consideration and reconstruct the way in which the agency and power of the object can change and accumulate throughout its existence. Exploring the biography of the Niobid leads us through different functions and appropriations of Greek art. From a fifth century BC Apollo temple in Greece, the story of the Niobid leads to Rome; the Temple of Apollo Sosianus, a Republican temple restored in Augustan times and further on to the Horti Sallustiani, a garden. In the realms of this garden the Niobid was excavated in 1906, followed by a series of events and political dispute concerning the statue. At the present the Dying Niobid still functions in Rome, on display in the Museo Nazionale Romano; Palazzo Massimo. This case-study is placed in a theoretical framework of symmetrical archaeology. Through this framework the aim is to achieve symmetry between not only the importance of the role of things, humans and other entities within each context, but also between the different life phases of the object. This will enable us to say something on the changes of meaning and agency of the object throughout time and space, and add to the wider debate on the role of Greek objects in the Roman world.Show less

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The Dying Niobid; Living On. A cultural biography on the life of a Greek statue in Rome