DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21832#0032
Milena Melfi • Old meets New.
In 1890 a new extension was built on land purchased north of the University Galleries.
The cast collection was transferred there in 1894. The space on the ground floor of the
Randolph gallery, previously occupied by casts,was entirely given to the ancient
marbles and original objects. From the descriptions contained in Percy Gardner's
guide published in 1914, and from the archive photographs, we understand that
the casts were arranged in the new extension according to periods. The arrangement
reflected the development of modern scholarship, and in particular the classification
presented in Ernest Gardner's handbook of sculpture. It also illustrated the con-
temporary discoveries from Greece and Turkey that had shifted the emphasis from
Roman copies of high aesthetic value to original sculptures of all periods of Greek
art. The tour of the gallery began introducing a pre-Greek style with casts of Egyp-
tian, Minoan and Mycenaean sculptures. An archaic room devoted to sculptures
down to 480 was given to Ionia and Athens, Delphi and Dorian Art. The Aigina
pedimental sculptures were accompanied by prints of coloured restorations made by
Furtwaengler (fig. 11). A second room was devoted to 5th-century casts. Here Gardner
addressed the problem of identifying sculptors and styles. Architectural sculptures
from Olympia and from the Parthenon were accompanied by model reconstruc-
tions such as Walger's of the Athenian Acropolis (fig. 12). The largest room on the
ground floor was dedicated to 4lh-century art. Here screens were used to group casts
according to main sculptors (Skopas, Praxiteles, Lysippos) while a smaller recess
was given to Rhodian and Pergamene art. Greek and Roman portraits and busts
where gathered in a lobby outside the lecture room while Hellenistic and Roman
reliefs and sculptures were displayed in the so-called sunken court which connected
the lower floor of the main building with the new extension.
31
In 1890 a new extension was built on land purchased north of the University Galleries.
The cast collection was transferred there in 1894. The space on the ground floor of the
Randolph gallery, previously occupied by casts,was entirely given to the ancient
marbles and original objects. From the descriptions contained in Percy Gardner's
guide published in 1914, and from the archive photographs, we understand that
the casts were arranged in the new extension according to periods. The arrangement
reflected the development of modern scholarship, and in particular the classification
presented in Ernest Gardner's handbook of sculpture. It also illustrated the con-
temporary discoveries from Greece and Turkey that had shifted the emphasis from
Roman copies of high aesthetic value to original sculptures of all periods of Greek
art. The tour of the gallery began introducing a pre-Greek style with casts of Egyp-
tian, Minoan and Mycenaean sculptures. An archaic room devoted to sculptures
down to 480 was given to Ionia and Athens, Delphi and Dorian Art. The Aigina
pedimental sculptures were accompanied by prints of coloured restorations made by
Furtwaengler (fig. 11). A second room was devoted to 5th-century casts. Here Gardner
addressed the problem of identifying sculptors and styles. Architectural sculptures
from Olympia and from the Parthenon were accompanied by model reconstruc-
tions such as Walger's of the Athenian Acropolis (fig. 12). The largest room on the
ground floor was dedicated to 4lh-century art. Here screens were used to group casts
according to main sculptors (Skopas, Praxiteles, Lysippos) while a smaller recess
was given to Rhodian and Pergamene art. Greek and Roman portraits and busts
where gathered in a lobby outside the lecture room while Hellenistic and Roman
reliefs and sculptures were displayed in the so-called sunken court which connected
the lower floor of the main building with the new extension.
31