Long-lived monarchs, ancient and modern
May 11, 2016
In light of the Queen’s recent 90th birthday, Nicholas Wilshere discusses long-lived monarchs ancient and modern. April 21st marked the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, an event which prompted royal reporters to make comparisons with other long-lived and long-reigning rulers, and to point out that she is both the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, …
Effaced: the missing noses of classical antiquity
October 23, 2015
Mark Bradley explores an important cross-cultural phenomenon. A display cabinet in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, exhibits scores of disembodied noses (and various other appendages) from its Greek and Roman sculpture collections. This macabre collection of body parts was assembled in 1981 out of marble and plaster noses that had been deliberately removed by the …
Pompeii: The Curious Case of the Body Casts
May 29, 2014
Katharina Lorenz asks why the casts made of bodies in Pompeii are so compelling (and so widespread in popular culture). I am not a great fan of sword-and-sandal films, I am afraid. The Life of Brian is about what I am comfortable encountering on the screen antiquity-wise; and when it comes to Ben Hur, admittedly …
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