Dr. Stephanie Pearson
  • Home
  • Projects
    • museums.love
    • Uncertainty and Debate
    • Mithras Model & Audio
    • Weltverbesserer Interview
  • CV
    • Employment
    • Education
    • Museum Experience
    • Professional Training
    • Publications
    • Awards & Grants
    • Teaching
    • Invited Lectures
    • Workshops & Chaired Sessions
    • Conference Papers
    • Professional Engagement
    • Excavation
  • Exhibition Reviews
    • Anna Dorothea Therbusch
    • Making Ancient Art Contemporary
    • Cleopatra
    • Pompeii and Herculaneum
  • Tours
  • Ideas on Display (blog)

Planning a Pediment: Amazzonomachia, Palazzo dei Conservatori

10/12/2014

Comments

 
Plan of Amazzonomachia exhibition
Plan of Amazzonomachia exhibition, Palazzo dei Conservatori, 1985
An exhibition based on a single object can be wonderfully pointed, but it can also hard to stage — especially when the single object is an enormous (albeit fragmentary) pediment from an ancient Greek temple. The Amazzonomachia exhibition that took place in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome, in 1985 faced precisely this problem: how to exhibit a large set of sculptures lined up in a row, as they would have been in the original pediment, without producing a deadening effect? Marble statues standing in a row are not exactly an invigorating sight. Especially when fragmentary, they can appear painfully static and unengaging. To encourage a viewer to come closer and spend time with the objects, the Amazzonomachia design had to introduce an element of variety into the layout, lending a touch of movement to the ensemble.

The designers arrived at a very clever solution (shown in the plan above). They set the entire pediment (D) at an angle relative to the gallery, so that the sculptures do not simply line one side of the long space. This also presented the viewer with a more frontal view when she entered from the short side of the gallery, rather than an end-on view down the long sculptural lineup. Building on this idea, the pediment was set on a trapezoidal base (E) of which one long side parallels the gallery wall — thereby incorporating it seamlessly into the space, rather than allowing it to look arbitrarily, bizarrely skewed. The base itself is cunningly engineered to serve several purposes: it unifies the objects into their original grouping; it emphasizes the objects by elevating them above floor level; and the three steps leading up to the pedimental sculptures invite the viewer to approach, climb up, get closer. The cherry on top is that its trapezoidal shape echoes that of the ancient triangular pediment, as if projected here onto the ground. This final subtle touch would likely not be noticed by a visitor in the room, but may well have produced an unconscious kinesthetic impression that would reinforce the concept of the show.

(The catalogue for the show is here, while several photos of the sculptures can be seen here.)
Comments
    Ideas on Display
    A humble space to reflect on concepts of museum display as enacted across a wide range of subjects, countries, and approaches.

    Archives

    April 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Amsterdam
    Anthropology
    Archaeology
    Architecture
    Art
    Article
    Audio
    Award
    Behind The Scenes
    Berlin
    Boston
    Bulgaria
    California
    Chicago
    China
    Color
    Conservation
    Copenhagen
    Denmark
    Diagram
    Difficult Heritage
    Digital
    Display Case
    Dresden
    Egyptian
    Exhibition Outside Museum
    External Website
    Fashion
    Florida
    Frame
    France
    Germany
    Greek
    Halle
    Hamburg
    Hands On
    Hands-on
    Hanover
    Illinois
    Interactive
    Islamic
    Italy
    Kids
    Lighting
    London
    Los Angeles
    Map
    Marketing
    Marrakech
    Minnesota
    Missouri
    Morocco
    Movement
    Munich
    Nature
    Netherlands
    New York
    North Carolina
    Nuremberg
    Outdoor
    Painting
    Paris
    Pennsylvania
    Photography
    Roman
    Rome
    Shelving
    Signage
    Space
    Spain
    Switzerland
    Texas
    Text
    Turkey
    UK
    USA
    Video
    Women
    World War 2

    RSS Feed

Contact
Stephanie Pearson
steph [at] stephpearson.com