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Metope from the Elgin Marbles.

An Assyrian winged bull, or lamassu,Louvre.

Chinese ritual wine server (guang), c.1100 BC

AntiquitiesFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Antiquities are objects from Antiquity, especially thecivilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquityof Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the otherAncient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlierperiods such as the Mesolithic, and other civilizationsfrom Asia and elsewhere may also be covered by theterm. The phenomenon of giving a high value to ancientartifacts is found in other cultures, notably China, whereChinese ritual bronzes, three to two thousand years old,have been avidly collected and imitated for centuries, andthe Pre­Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica, where inparticular the artifacts of the earliest Olmec civilizationare found reburied in significant sites of later cultures upto the Spanish Conquest.[1]

Contents

1 Definition

2 History

3 Illegal trading

4 See also

5 References

Definition

The definition of the term is not always precise, andinstitutional definitions such as museum "Departments ofAntiquities" often cover later periods, but in normal usageGothic objects, for example, would not now be described asantiquities, though in 1700 they might well have been, as thecut­off date for antiquities has tended to retreat since the wordwas first found in English in 1513. Non­artistic artifacts arenow less likely to be called antiquities than in earlier periods.Francis Bacon wrote in 1605: "Antiquities are historydefaced, or some remnants of history which have casuallyescaped the shipwreck of time".

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The Euphronios krater has beenreturned to Italy by theMetropolitan Museum

The art trade reflects modern usage of the term; Christie's "Department of Antiquities" covers objects"from the dawn of civilization to the Dark Ages, ranging from Western Europe to the Caspian Sea,embracing the cultures of Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Near East."[2] Bonhams use a similar definition:"...4000 B.C to the 12th Century A.D. Geographically they originate from Egypt, the Near East andEurope ..." [3] Official cut­off dates are often later, being unconcerned with precise divisions of arthistory, and using the term for all historical periods they wish to protect: in Jordan it is 1750,[4] in HongKong 1800, and so on.

The term is no longer much used in formal academic discussion, because of this imprecision. Most, butnot all, antiquities have been recovered by archaeology. There is little or no overlap with antiques, whichcovers objects, not generally discovered as a result of archaeology, at most about three hundred yearsold, and usually far less.

History

The sense of antiquitates, the idea that a civilization could be recovered by a systematic exploration ofits relics and material culture, in the sense used by Varro and reflected in Josephus' Antiquities of theJews was lost during the Middle Ages, when ancient objects were collected with other appeals, the rarityor strangeness of their materials or simply because they were thought to be endowed with magical ormiraculous powers.[5] Precious cameos and other antique carved gems might be preserved whenincorporated into crowns and diadems and liturgical objects,[6] consular ivory diptychs by being used asgospel covers. Roman columns could be re­erected in churches.[7] sarcophagi could receive newoccupants and cinerary urns could function as holy water stoups. Sculptural representations of thehuman form, feared and reviled as "idols" could be rehabilitated by reidentifying their subjects: theequestrian bronze Marcus Aurelius of the Campidoglio was respected as a representation of the Christianemperor Constantine, and in Pavia the Regisole acquired a civic role that preserved it. In Rome theRoman bronze Spinario was admired for itself by the guidebook writer Magister Gregorius. Theclassicism of the Carolingian renaissance was in part inspired by appreciation of Late Antiquemanuscripts: the Utrecht Psalter attempts to recreate such a Late Antique original, both in itshandwriting and its illustrations.[8]

Illegal trading

The export of antiquities is now heavily controlled by law in almostall countries and by the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means ofProhibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer ofOwnership of Cultural Property,[9] but a large and increasing tradein Illicit antiquities continues. The Euphronios krater is an apparentexample that has come to light.[10] Another example is theambiguous legal case concerning the Getty Museum's "BronzeStatue of a Victorious Youth".[11] The field has been furthercomplicated by the trade in Archaeological forgeries, such as theEtruscan terracotta warriors, the Persian Princess,[12] and the Gettykouros.

See also

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Ancient art

References1. [1] (http://artworld.uea.ac.uk/cms/index.php?q=node/873)2. [2] (http://www.christies.com/departments/ant/overview.asp)3. "Antiquities". Bonhams. Retrieved 2014­08­25.4. [3] (http://conference.legadoandalusi.es/en/doa1.htm)5. Roberto Weiss, 1969. The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity, p. 2ff.6. The "Cup of the Ptolemies" was set in Carolingian precious mounting and preserved in the Basilica of Saint­

Denis.7. Robert Weiss notes (1969:8) that Ionic columns from the Baths of Caracalla were used in Innocent II's

rebuilding of Santa Maria in Trastevere, 11398. Noted in this context by Roberto Weiss 1969:4.9. "Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership

of Cultural Property". Unesco.org. Retrieved 22 November 2014.10. Brodie, Neil. "Euphronios (Sarpedon) Krater". Retrieved 21 August 2012.11. Derek Fincham, 2 March 2007 (http://illicit­cultural­property.blogspot.co.uk/2007/03/bronze­statue­of­

victorious­youth.html)12. Brodie, Neil. "Persian Mummy". Retrieved 21 August 2012.

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Categories: Ancient art Art genres Archaeological artifacts Art and cultural repatriation

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