Assistant Professor in Ancient Mediterranean Art History
Thursday, October 11, 5:30 p.m.
School of Art, Room B01
Erasing the Past, Building the Future: A Late-antique Fountain at Aphrodisias
A fountain complex at the ancient site of Aphrodisias, Turkey, was excavated by the French engineer Paul Gaudin in 1904, but remained unstudied till now. The fountain seals the south end of a street with sacred associations, and is built in late antiquity entirely of re-used architectural blocks. These blocks include an ornamental pediment with a bust of Aphrodite in the center, which originally belonged to a building sacred to the goddess. In its second life, the bust was chiseled off by the Christian builders. This lecture shows how the old deity was forced into oblivion, while the believers of the new one flourished by reusing her remnants.
