DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21832#0025
Plaster Casts of the Works of Art
The new Ashmolean Museum was opened on 2nd December 2009. The outcome
of the refurbishment is a completely new building opening behind the traditional
neoclassical structure. At its heart is the main staircase which spans six floors. Bridges,
glass walls and balustrades connect the galleries on adjoining floors (fig. 3). The layout
of the galleries over five floors is inspired by a thematic approach, based on the idea
that cultures interact and influence one another and exemplified by the wording
Crossing Cultures, Crossing Time. The interlinking of gallery spaces and the carefully
constructed views between floors are the physical manifestation of the crossing
cultures / crossing time theme. The floors are arranged in broad chronological order
as the visitor ascends through the building. Each floor includes galleries specific
to a particular region or civilization, within the same chronological period. Building
and display areas are conceived around strong visual axes with key objects, often
visible at a distance, across several galleries.
Casts as key display objects
Among the key objects a prominent role is played by two casts from the antique.
They are larger-than- life size and mark the inception of the two staircases that allow
the visitors to ascend the thematic routes.
The cast of Apollo from Olympia has become one of the most iconic objects
of the new Ashmolean (figs. 4-5). This monumental image spans the height of two
floors. For the visitors entering the ground floor, it represents a powerful introduc-
tion to the building: on the axis of the main entrance, at the end of the orientation
gallery for the ancient world, it provides a visual guide for commencing the tour
of the museum. For the viewers visiting the lower ground floor, Apollo is part of a the-
matic display on the Human Image and its representation in art from prehistory
to modern times. Here casts are displayed side by side with original objects, often
of much smaller dimensions. The casts of the old fisherman from Aphrodisias and
the archaic statue of a youth from Delphi are exhibited next to prehistoric statuettes
and Hellenistic coins. While Apollo is singled out to be visible always from both
floors and all perspectives, the other objects of the Human Image gallery are visible
from the lower ground floor, and can be only appreciated from a closer perspective.
Apollo's main visual link is with the architecture of the building and the articulation
of the space within, rather than with the gallery it belongs.
The coloured cast of the bronze Zeus from the Artemision Cape has a similar function
and visual role (figs. 6 - 7). Central to the display on Greece and Rome, it points
towards the secondary staircase leading to the upper floors. As much as the Apollo,
it dominates the central axis of the second access to the building: the west wing,
for visitors entering the museum from the shop or after visiting the central Randolph
Gallery. The scale and position of the statue — together with its bright bronze col-
our — distance it from the original archaeological material displayed in the gallery
(mostly pottery and small scale stone artefact). The display text on the modern plinth
24
The new Ashmolean Museum was opened on 2nd December 2009. The outcome
of the refurbishment is a completely new building opening behind the traditional
neoclassical structure. At its heart is the main staircase which spans six floors. Bridges,
glass walls and balustrades connect the galleries on adjoining floors (fig. 3). The layout
of the galleries over five floors is inspired by a thematic approach, based on the idea
that cultures interact and influence one another and exemplified by the wording
Crossing Cultures, Crossing Time. The interlinking of gallery spaces and the carefully
constructed views between floors are the physical manifestation of the crossing
cultures / crossing time theme. The floors are arranged in broad chronological order
as the visitor ascends through the building. Each floor includes galleries specific
to a particular region or civilization, within the same chronological period. Building
and display areas are conceived around strong visual axes with key objects, often
visible at a distance, across several galleries.
Casts as key display objects
Among the key objects a prominent role is played by two casts from the antique.
They are larger-than- life size and mark the inception of the two staircases that allow
the visitors to ascend the thematic routes.
The cast of Apollo from Olympia has become one of the most iconic objects
of the new Ashmolean (figs. 4-5). This monumental image spans the height of two
floors. For the visitors entering the ground floor, it represents a powerful introduc-
tion to the building: on the axis of the main entrance, at the end of the orientation
gallery for the ancient world, it provides a visual guide for commencing the tour
of the museum. For the viewers visiting the lower ground floor, Apollo is part of a the-
matic display on the Human Image and its representation in art from prehistory
to modern times. Here casts are displayed side by side with original objects, often
of much smaller dimensions. The casts of the old fisherman from Aphrodisias and
the archaic statue of a youth from Delphi are exhibited next to prehistoric statuettes
and Hellenistic coins. While Apollo is singled out to be visible always from both
floors and all perspectives, the other objects of the Human Image gallery are visible
from the lower ground floor, and can be only appreciated from a closer perspective.
Apollo's main visual link is with the architecture of the building and the articulation
of the space within, rather than with the gallery it belongs.
The coloured cast of the bronze Zeus from the Artemision Cape has a similar function
and visual role (figs. 6 - 7). Central to the display on Greece and Rome, it points
towards the secondary staircase leading to the upper floors. As much as the Apollo,
it dominates the central axis of the second access to the building: the west wing,
for visitors entering the museum from the shop or after visiting the central Randolph
Gallery. The scale and position of the statue — together with its bright bronze col-
our — distance it from the original archaeological material displayed in the gallery
(mostly pottery and small scale stone artefact). The display text on the modern plinth
24