Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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Athena's aegis, her characteristic magical garment, often features a scaly texture, a fringe of snakes, or the head of the gorgon Medusa. These attributes sometimes make Athena look like a hybrid...Show moreAthena's aegis, her characteristic magical garment, often features a scaly texture, a fringe of snakes, or the head of the gorgon Medusa. These attributes sometimes make Athena look like a hybrid monster in ancient Greek art and literature. This thesis explores the scope of literary and artistic representations of Athena in which her aegis constructs her body as a monstrous, boundary-crossing hybrid. I explore four contexts or themes in which Athena’s body interacts with the monstrous through the medium of the aegis: gender, costume, monster battles, and image ontologies. In each context, the monstrous aegis places Athena’s body in multiple categories simultaneously: masculine and feminine, hybrid and humanoid, god and monster, image and moving body. It is an agent of transformation. I argue that this polymorphism grants Athena a similar fantastical or unrealistic body to a hybrid monster. She is an excellent vector for artistic and literary explorations of the nature, limits, and transgression of cultural and ontological taxonomies. Rather than only signifying dominion over the monstrous, as is conventionally argued, the hybridity of the aegis allows Athena to function in a similar fashion to a monster.Show less
This Master thesis will investigate the 19th century restorations on red-figure South Italian vases from the National Museum of Antiquities (Leiden, The Netherlands). From a theoretical framework,...Show moreThis Master thesis will investigate the 19th century restorations on red-figure South Italian vases from the National Museum of Antiquities (Leiden, The Netherlands). From a theoretical framework, which considers restoration as being part of an object’s cultural biography, the restoration practices of vase restorers in the Neapolitan antiquities trade of the 19th century will be investigated. Although these restoration practices are still unexplored, recent investigations have led to promising results. Not only the broken parts of the vases seem to have been repaired and completed, also the paintings have been restored in some cases. The National Museum of Antiquities also has a broad collection of Greek pottery. Some of the South Italian vases owned by the museum have their history in the Neapolitan art market of the 19th century. Yet, little is known about the restorations executed on these vases. To know whether –and to what extent– the collection of red-figure South Italian pottery has been restored, ultraviolet fluorescence will be used. This non-destructive method will be applied to distinguish the ancient paint from the 19th century adjustments. This research will not only answer the aforementioned questions, but –together with comparable studies– also hopes to change the contemporary perception of ancient vase paintings.Show less
