Arrangement
Other Finding Aids
Processing History
Publication Rights
Access
Biographical/Historical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Study photographs of ancient architectural sculpture
Creator:
Gordon, Eugene
Creator:
Koch, Guntram
Creator:
Goldscheider, Ludwig, 1896-1973
Creator:
Serafis, Emile
Creator:
Getty Research Institute
Creator:
Bini, Barbara
Creator:
Frantz, Alison
Creator:
Becatti, Giovanni, 1912-1973
Identifier/Call Number: 76.P.7
Physical Description:
33.2 Linear Feet
(159 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1900s
Abstract: A collection of modern photographs assembled by the Getty Research Institute of architectural sculpture, mostly detached from
the original location, concentrating on works of the Greek and Roman periods, from the Greek Archaic through the late Roman
Empire (6 century BC-6th century AD). Coverage is most complete for works from sites in Greece and Italy, but the collection
includes images of architectural sculpture from monuments in other countries, including Albania, Algeria, Egypt, England,
France, Germany, Lebanon, Libya, Romania, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia.
Language of Material:
English
.
Arrangement
Arrangement is geographical, filed alphabetically by name of modern country, then name of ancient city or site, and monument.
Other Finding Aids
The
Photo Archive Database includes photograph level access to approximately 55% of the photographs in this collection.
Processing History
Finding aid created in 2009.
Publication Rights
Access
Biographical/Historical Note
In 1974, the J. Paul Getty Museum began assembling a "photo library" by consolidating the visual resources of each existing
curatorial department. By the early 1980s, the Photo Archive was actively acquiring large collections of photographs from
commercial and private sources and scholars' archives that contained a photographic component. In 1983, the nearly one million
photographs of the Photo Archive were incorporated into the Research Institute's Special Collections.
Scope and Content of Collection
An assembled collection of modern photographs of architectural sculpture, mostly detached from the original location, concentrating
on works of the Greek and Roman periods, from the Greek Archaic through the late Roman Empire (6 century BC-6th century AD).
Coverage is most complete for works from sites in Greece and Italy, but the collection includes images of architectural sculpture
from monuments in other countries, including Albania, Algeria, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Lebanon, Libya, Romania, Syria,
Tunisia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. The cities for which major documentation of monuments exists are Athens and Olympia in Greece;
Rome (particularly the Ara Pacis Augustae, Arch of Constantine, and Column of Trajan) and Selinus in Italy; Aphrodisias and
Ephesus in Turkey.
The collection includes photographs from numerous sources, including commercial vendors and photographers; research institutions'
archives; excavation campaigns; scholars' archives and collections; and photographic campaigns sponsored by the Getty Research
Institute. Among the commercial vendors and photographers, the most important are: Alinari (including the Anderson and Brogi
archives), Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, Bulloz, Photographie Giraudon, Gabinetto fotografico nazionale (GFN) Rome, Hirmer Verlag,
Barbara Bini, Alison Frantz, Guntram Koch, and Emile Serafis.
Research institutions' archives from which new prints were made include: Fototeca unione at the American Academy in Rome;
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI), Athens and Rome; and the American School of Classical Studies, Athens.
Excavation campaigns from which the collection holds selected photographs include those of Princeton University at Morgantina
(Sicily); Bryn Mawr College at Murlo (Italy); the American Academy in Rome at Cosa (Italy); and the photographic record made
by Eugene Gordon of excavations at Heracleia Lyncestra (Yugoslavia) and Aquincum (Hungary) as well as his photos of archaeological
remains at Agrigento and Taormina (Sicily) and Aphrodisias, Aspendos, Ephesus, Perge, and Side (Turkey).
Photographic campaigns sponsored by the repository have contributed extensive coverage of three monuments in Rome. The Column
of Trajan is documented in 1,169 photographs, 977 of which show every 30 cm. of the friezes after cleaning and restoration
carried out in the 1980s. The Arch of Constantine is represented in circa 315 photos and the Ara Pacis Augustae in circa 300
photos. The collection also includes photographs from the repository's Giovanni Becatti and Ludwig Goldscheider archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sculpture, Greek
Sculpture, Ancient -- Italy
Sculpture, Greek -- Italy, Southern
Sculpture, Greek -- Italy -- Sicily
Decoration and ornament, Ancient
Decoration and ornament, Architectural
Sculpture, Ancient -- Turkey
Sculpture, Ancient
Turkey -- Antiquities
Italy -- Antiquities
Photographic prints
Poggio Civitate Site (Italy)
Ara Pacis (Rome, Italy)
Trajan's Column (Rome, Italy)
Greece -- Antiquities
Arch of Constantine (Rome, Italy)
Cosa (Extinct city)
Morgantina (Extinct city)
Sculpture, Roman
Sculpture, Roman -- Italy
Goldscheider, Ludwig, 1896-1973 -- Photograph collections
Becatti, Giovanni, 1912-1973 -- Photograph collections