Spring, 2016 - Slater Memorial Museum

The Muse
A Mark of Distinction
The quarterly
newsletter of the
Slater Memorial Museum
by Vivian F. Zoë
Today when we contemplate a “seal,” we are usually contemplating a maddening plastic
or foil top intended to protect us and to communicate to us that a product is pure. For
millennia, used to close something like a paper envelope with wax, seals were known as
proof of authenticity or ownership.
A seal is made of a hard or hardened substance like metal or stone and is used to make
an impression in a soft substance like melted wax or wet clay or plaster. The image in
the seal is typically in negative relief so that the image it leaves behind is in positive, low
relief and reversed. This process is aided by the intaglio cut of the seal-making tool. In
this case, the negative relief is created by either cutting away material below the surface
or by casting it using a positive mold.
Recently, a magnificent gift was made to the Slater Memorial Museum of a Slater Family
Crest signet ring, which surely functioned as a seal. More importantly, donated by
William Albert Slater IV, the ring is depicted on the proper left hand of William Albert
Slater, Sr. (1857-1919), in the portrait by Benjamin Constant hanging in the main entry
hallway of the museum and donated in 1923 by Ellen Peck Slater. The Slater ring uses
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Spring, 2016
At left, detail from the portrait of
Willliam Albert Slater wearing the
Slater Family signet ring. Above
and at right: engraved bloodstone
and gold signet ring of the Slater
Family. Note reversed “S.”
A Message from the Director
Photographers: Leigh Thomas, Vivian
Zoë, Barry Wilson
The president of the Friends of the
Slater Memorial Museum: Tricia
Staley
The Norwich Free Academy Board of
Trustees:
Diana L. Boisclair
Allyn L. Brown, III
Keith G. Fontaine
Lee-Ann Gomes, Treasurer
Thomas M. Griffin, Secretary
Thomas Hammond
DeVol Joyner
Denise Lindell
Theodore N. Phillips, Chair
Todd C. Postler
William Warzecha
Sarette Williams, Vice Chair
The Norwich Free Academy does
not discriminate in its educational
programs, services or employment
on the basis of race, religion, gender,
national origin, color, handicapping
condition, age, marital status or sexual
orientation. This is in accordance with
Title VI, Title VII, Title IX and other
civil rights or discrimination issues;
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973 as amended and the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1991.
Rebirth and refreshment … With spring
upon us, we reflect on our winter days spent
productively wrapping up fall projects,
hosting the Annual Connecticut Artists
Juried Exhibition and planning a terrific
summer exhibition to open June 12, entitled
Meadow Life. Its goal is to draw our thoughts,
through art, to the value and fragility of
open space in Connecticut. Accompanying
the exhibition will be outdoor and indoor
activities of a scientific and artistic nature…
stay tuned. We are delighted to report that
recently, the Connecticut League of History
Organizations (CLHO) has presented its 2016 Award of Merit to The Slater
Memorial Museum for its temporary exhibition John Meyer of Norwich:
An American Original. The CLHO presents Awards of Merit to institutions
and individuals who exhibit the highest of professional standards, and who
enhance and further the knowledge and understanding of Connecticut history.
We are humbly gratified to the CLHO and our fabulous volunteers who helped
make the exhibition a reality! The John Meyer of Norwich exhibition is
also travelling in part to the Greater Hartford Jewish Community Center this
summer at the invitation of the Greater Hartford Jewish Historical Society.
Stay tuned for more information on that.
Photo: Harrison Judd
The Muse is published up to four times
yearly for the members of The Friends
of the Slater Memorial Museum. The
museum is located at 108 Crescent
Street, Norwich, CT 06360. It is part
of The Norwich Free Academy, 305
Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360.
Museum main telephone number:
(860) 887-2506. Visit us on the web at
www.slatermuseum.org.
Museum Director – Vivian F. Zoë
Newsletter editor – Geoff Serra
Contributing authors: Vivian Zoë,
Leigh Thomas
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS, PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
Friday, March 18
5:00-7:00 pm
Happy Hour Drink & Draw Join us for
an evening of fine art and fine wine! Spend the
evening sketching in our galleries and sampling an
array of spirits and light bites to refresh your palate
and loosen your creativity! See page 6. Thanks to
Towne Liquor Store for sponsoring this event.
Sunday, April 3
1:00 - 3:00 pm
opening reception: 122nd
Morning Childrens’ Exhibiton.
Friday, April 29
5:00 - 7:00 pm
friends of slater annual meeting:
This program is free to all current members, including those who join at the event. More information on page 6.
Friday May 6
5:00 - 7:00 pm
Opening Reception: The 126th Norwich
Art School Student Exhibition.
September 22 October 1, 2016
Greece Adventure!
Join us for this
unique travel opportunity! More details on page 5.
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Saturday
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Images: Tibetan Reliquary, guardian deities trampling a dragon on obverse (left), impressed seal on reverse (center), copper, 18th
century; Babylonian Seal (right), scorpion carved in a carnelian, excavated at the ruins of Nineveh, ca. 2150 BCE
an engraved blood stone, carved in relief, called a cameo,
to create the seal “matrix.” Signet rings were often used to
authenticate a document, a folded letter or envelope, or
the cover of a container holding valuables.
A distinctive written signature in script not yet developed,
signet rings gained popularity in ancient Egypt. Signet
rings are also used as souvenir or membership attribute as
an alternative to one with a stone. Since at least the 16th
century there have also been pseudo-signet rings where
the engraving is not reversed (mirror image), as it should
be if the impression is to read correctly. In the case of the
Slater ring, the “S” is reversed, indicating its authenticity.
The 18 karat gold heraldic intaglio-carved bloodstone
signet ring belonged at one time to John Fox Slater. Dating
from the early 1800’s, it may have been passed down by John
Slater, Samuel’s brother and part owner of the first waterpowered textile mill in the country. Carved with the Slater
family crest in the stone and lions on the “shoulders,” it was
passed down in the family to William A. Slater IV. The
gold reliefs are rampant lions and the bloodstone intaglio
is a gauntlet-sheathed forearm grasping a broadsword,
mounted on a pedestal, surmounting a Gothic letter “S.”
According to the American College of Heraldry, these
symbols reflect, in the case of the Gauntlet, that the wearer
is armed for the performance of martial enterprise. Again,
the sword signifies Justice and military honor, the Lions,
dauntless courage, bravery, strength, ferocity, and valor.
Signet rings have been known for millennia with extant
ancient Egyptian examples. They typically have a flat
bezel, usually wider than the rest of the hoop, which
is decorated, normally in intaglio, so that it will leave a
raised impression of the design. As is the case with the
Slater Crest ring, the design is generally an heraldic crest,
made by engraving, either in metal or gems. The most
common semi-precious stones used are agate, carnelian
and sardonyx (essentially sard and onyx) another form
of agate. All are in the chalcedony family, including the
blood stone.
In a recent visit to the Slater Museum by Matthew von
Schlippe, grandson of Alexey von Schlippe, an artist who
taught at NFA and later at UConn, his family crest signet
ring was noticed. Discussion surrounding the ring revealed
a multitude of symbols
embedded into the
intaglio carving of
the stone. Sodium
thioantimoniate, also
known as Schlippe’s
salt, was used as an
“amplifier” in silverbased photography, in
matches as a flammable
component, and for
vulcanizing rubber.
This
sulfosalt
is
named after Karl F.
von Schlippe (1798–
1867) and because of
his discovery, Czar
Nicholas I awarded Karl F. von Schlippe (1798–1867)
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him a title. Although Russian in ethnicity, the von
Schlippe family has had a long history with Germanic
language and countries. The von Schlippe Family crest
includes three pyramids, emblematic of the three uses
of the sodium compound. In addition, one can see with
magnification, a series of ripples in the crest, according to
Matthew, signifying a stream, an early Saxon translation
of Schlippe. The crown in the image represents the Czar.
In Medieval and Renaissance Europe, seals in wax might
be two-sided, sandwiched around a cord or ribbon
which was used to tie a document, indicating, again,
the authenticity of its origins. The smaller of the two is
sometimes referred to as a counter seal, and appears on
the reverse of the principal impression. Some pendant
seals were double-sided, with clear differences between
the obverse and reverse. The impression was formed using
a device that held the two reliefs squarely against one
another. Some early devices were so complex that they
created a three-dimensional seal in miniature high relief.
Babylonian Cylinder Seal, intaglio engraving on stone, ca
2000 BCE (above) with clay tablet depicting design: 3 figures
with panel of cuneiform writing (below)
leave impressions used to identify and authenticate trade
goods. They are usually hollow, like a tube, and may have
been worn on a string or thong around the neck. They
may have finely carved images and writing.
A principal seal and counter seal might be kept by two
different individuals to ensure an even greater level of
authentication. For example, a principal official seal
might be kept by appointed officials and counter-sealed
by a superior authority such as a monarch or the highest
elected official. The smaller signet rings were often used
as counter seals in these cases.
Another cylinder seal in the Slater Museum’s collection
shows an intaglio engraving of a design with three figures
and a panel of cuneiform writing, Babylonian, c. 2000
BCE The panel reveals the impression created by the seal.
In the Slater Museum’s collection, a sacred tree with
animal (Ibex) is inscribed on a cylinder seal. This form is
also known as a Saidyeh V Cylinder Seal. This particular
example was auctioned at one time by Gimbel Brothers,
Broadway at 33rd St. New York, as Lot 640 and described
as a “large odd white Babylonian tree and animal
decoration.”
Saidyeh V Cylinder Seal,
Babylonian, sacred tree with
Ibex
From as early as 3000 BCE into the Middle Ages, seals
were made in Greece and the Aegean islands, first from
soft stone and ivory. Later, the Bronze Age allowed hard
stone to be carved in more intricate designs and techniques
including the seal or signet ring. Engraved precious and
semi-precious stones were carved in the Archaic, Classical
and Hellenistic periods. The pictorial gems were a highly
desirable luxury art form collected by royalty. Engraved
gems continued to be produced and collected until the
19th century.
In ancient Mesopotamia,
carved or engraved
cylinder seals in stone or
other materials were used
as seals. Mesopotamia
is the mountainous
region spanning from
the Mediterranean Sea
to the Persian Gulf, now
roughly
overlapping
Lebanon, Syria, Iran and
Iraq. Ancient Babylon
was a part of this region.
Babylonian cylinder seals
were rolled in soft clay to
Since the second century BCE, seals have been used in the
Far East, China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam to authenticate
documents and fine art. Wood cuts, watercolors and ink
drawings are frequently marked with more than one
stamp from a seal indicating the artist’s name, publisher’s
authentication, identifying poems or mottoes, and even
the owner or purchaser of the work. East Asian seals are
carved from a variety of hard materials including wood,
soapstone, sea glass and jade. They were traditionally
used with a red oil-based paste of finely ground cinnabar,
which contrasts with the black ink traditionally used for
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An Odyssey of Greek Discovery
September 22 - October 2, 2016
A trip offered by the Slater Memorial Museum
and the Hellenic Society Paideia
Join the Slater Memorial Museum and the Hellenic Society Paideia for an unforgettable journey
through Central Greece and the Peloponnese this Fall! This small group travel experience has been
designed to highlight the connections between the collection of Slater Museum and Greek sites and
museums. The tour will be led by UCONN professor Ilias Tomazos, former Norwich Free Academy
Classics Program Head Nina Barclay and Slater Museum Director Vivian Zoë, combining curatorial
experience with ancient and modern Greek scholarship.
More than just a vacation, our itinerary focus on educational and enriching activities will allow
you to experience history, art and culture - it is certain to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Trip Summary:
Total cost estimate: $2850 per person, double occupancy. Cost includes:
• All ground, air and water transportation, including a private chartered bus from Norwich to
Logan International Airport in Boston.
• Local transportation in Greece on a comfortable, fully-equipped charter bus, including tips.
• Group entrance to all museums on our itinerary.
• Daily breakfasts and dinners are also included (11 Breakfasts, 10 Dinners)
Limited space is still available! Please call (860) 425-5563 to indicate your interest.
5
5
Happy Hour Drink & Draw
at the Slater Museum
Friday, March 18, 2016
5:00 - 7:00 pm
Please join us for an evening of
fine art and fine wine!
Spend the evening sketching in our galleries and sampling an array of spirits and light bites to refresh your
palate and loosen your creativity! We provide the paper,
pencils and sketchboards, or bring your own. Refreshments are included in your admission fee. No artistic
experience necessary, but ID is required!
$25 General admission / $20 Member admission
Register and pay by March 16 and receive a $5 discount!
Thanks to Towne Liquor Store for sponsoring this event
Charcoal drawing by Ted Genard of the
Slater’s cast of the Farnese Hera (October 29th, 2015).
Friends of Slater Museum Annual Meeting
Friday, April 29, 5:00-7:00 pm
Open to the public. Brief reports followed
by a presentation by NFA alumnus (1998)
Brenton M. Easter. Mr. Easter is a Special
Agent with the Homeland Security
Department’s Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Agency, who investigates
international art and antiquity theft. He
will talk about his work in the Middle East
and in Egypt.
As a member of the Cultural Property Group, Mr. Easter has spent almost a decade working on hundreds of cultural
property investigations spanning all over the globe. His ground-breaking investigations have changed HSI’s tactics
in combatting the illicit trafficking of cultural property. These investigations, which aim to dismantle transnational
criminal organizations, have resulted in the recovery of record-breaking numbers of antiquities in both volume and
value, totaling in thousands and worth approximately a quarter of a billion dollars.
This program is free to all current members, including those who join at the event.
To reserve your seat, please call 860-425-5563.
6
(Continued from page 4)
the ink brush. Red chemical inks are more commonly
used today, partly because cinnabar, a mercury
sulfide mineral, is considered toxic. Seal engraving is
considered a form of calligraphy in East Asia, like inkbrush calligraphy. There are several styles of engraving,
some so highly stylized that the characters represented
on the seal are difficult for untrained readers to identify.
Noted calligraphers became famous as engravers and
their seals have become valuable as historical works of
art.
Using wax to seal documents expanded to more
plebian leaders and, eventually, to governments,
churches, landowners and businesses. Today we use
mass-produced, pre-gummed paper seals that can
be affixed directly to documents or rubber stamps to
authenticate them. Applied seals also came to be used
on legal instruments applied directly to the face of the
document so that there was no need to break them,
and this use continues. In addition, a resurgence in
the use of custom seals and sealing wax has emerged
in the last decade, where artisans and those who still
write letters are creating and using traditional and
contemporary devices. Some of these seals are available
in the museum’s gift shop!
Most Western seals were circular in design, although
ovals, triangles, shield-shapes and other patterns are
also known. The design usually included an icon
representing a family or entity surrounded by text.
This circling text is called a legend, often consisting of
the words “The seal or ‘S.’ of [the name of the owner]”,
in Latin or in the local vernacular language. The letter
“s.” represents “sigillum,” Latin for seal.
Since soft, melted or wet compositions like wax and
plaster are the best recipients of stamped seals, it is
no surprise that the Ateliers de Moulages, or casting
studios of the 19th century, made sure their work was
marked with a seal. Indeed many of the casts within
the Slater’s collection are marked with the seals of the
studios in which they were made. The seal of studio
Brucciani, a 19th century London-based cast-maker,
takes the shape of a rectangle, sometimes with a
border. From about 1822, there were several plaster
figure makers listed in London named Brucciani, all
with ties to Lucca and Braga, the traditional plaster
casting region of Italy. Even today, the familiar and
popular religious figures for home use are made there.
Domenico Giovanni Brucciani (1815-1880) was a
plaster figure maker who went to England with his
father. He established a Gallery of Casts in Covent
Garden and became the leading plaster-cast maker in
London when copies were in great demand. Brucciani
worked with Giovanni Graziani until 1857 and then
established his own studio, the Galleria delle Belle Arti.
He worked for the South Kensington Museum (now
In Middle Age Europe, seals of women and clerics
were often shaped as pointed ovals. Images of the seal’s
owner, his or her occupation or a saint were frequently
included.
Seals for preventing the unauthorized opening of
official documents were most often made of combined
melted beeswax and tree resin. Sealing wax was
naturally yellowish or pale brownish in tone, but
could also be artificially colored red or green. Wax
colors became significant in their own right and might
indicate different purposes of the sealed document.
In the Middle Ages, sometimes melted soft metals like
lead or even gold were used to authenticate and keep
closed documents from, for example, political, military
and religious leaders. Because of their normally
organic material, actual seals are rare and no longer
extant earlier than the 7th century. The earliest are
usually metal. The matrices, the carved stone or hard
metal tools used to impress the relief and close the
document, are much more likely to survive. These early
seals were often used by royalty and clerical leaders
which, in many cases, also functioned as arbiters of
comportment and morality. When leadership of the
highest level died or were killed or deposed, often their
seal would be ritualistically destroyed to ensure it was
not used in an unauthorized manner or counterfeited.
In such cases, a new seal was created for the successor.
The studio seal of Brucciani & Co., from the SMM’s cast
of a Fragment from the Balustrade of the Temple of
Athena Nike
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Brucciani’s most important commission for the South
Kensington Museum, according to the Victoria and Albert
Museum website, was the casting of the 12th-century
Portico de la Gloria, a twenty-foot wide section of the
façade of the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, cast
in 1866. At the Slater Museum, the iconic Wrestlers, the
original attributed by scholars to Myron, Cephisodotus the
Younger or Heliodorus, is a Brucciani/Victoria & Albert
Museum cast, c. 1888. The Brucciani/Victoria & Albert
studio also performed conservation on casts, working for
the National Portrait Gallery, 1912-26, mainly on plaster
busts, for example, cleaning and coloring plaster casts.
“...such a (cast) museum is as necessary
a supplement to archaeological lectures,
as a laboratory is to lectures on physics
or chemistry.”
- Renowned German archaeologist
Adolf Michaelis, 1884
the Victoria and Albert Museum), the British Museum
and the National Portrait Gallery, making molds and casts
of objects in their collections and of monuments from the
archaeological sites and museums in Rome.
Beginning in the late 17th century, through the reign of
Napoleon I, into the late 18th century, the Louvre in Paris
has had one of the most prolific European casting studios.
Now, under the Reunion Musees Nationaux (RMN),
established 2011, the Louvre’s cast studio, or Atelier de
Moulages, one can still (or again) obtain casts of iconic
sculpture, some included the Slater’s collection. The RMN
asserts (translated) that:
After Domenico Brucciani’s death in 1880, his business
was advertised for sale and may have been purchased by
Joseph L. Caproni (1846-1900), who continued trading
as D. Brucciani & Co. There were subsequent close
connections between the Caproni and Brucciani families,
as is apparent from the record of the birth in 1926 of Enrico
Brucciani to a mother by the maiden name of Caproni.
“Statuary molding is the art of reproducing sculpture
by making impressions from original works. Obtained
by different techniques, the negative impression is called
a mold from which are “extracted” reproductions.
According to Robert Shure, the proprietor of Skylight
Studios and owner of Caproni Brothers of Boston’s 19th
and early 20th century molds and casts, it is possible
Joseph Caproni may have been related in some way to
Pietro Caproni, the principal of Caproni studio. Joseph
was from Lucca and the Boston Caproni studio family
was from Barga, which is a town in the province of Lucca.
Pietro was born in 1862, so Joseph (if related) could have
been an uncle. It is believed that Pietro Caproni came
from a long line of plaster casters and stone masons, so
Joseph was likely related in some way. Pietro had ten
siblings and half-siblings. Emilio was the brother who,
with Pietro, established the Caproni studio. During their
many moldmaking and cast-purchasing trips to Europe,
the Capronis acquired Brucciani casts.
From his earliest origins, man has used the functioning
of the negative and positive of the form to achieve a
multitude of objects - utensils, weapons, jewellery necessary for everyday life.
Later molding techniques allowed knowledge and
the transmission of our artistic past. Thus, ancient
Rome propagated the masterpieces of Greek sculpture
by molded bronze copies and Renaissance scholars
disseminated Antique sculptures found during
excavations.
Ancient Egyptian sculptors used light and shadow in
their reliefs to emphasize volume and magnitude. This
‘contrast effect’ has been used by sculptors to the present
Beginning in the 1910’s, the demand for plaster casts was
declining, and Brucciani began to flounder. A private
businessman supplied funds for the studio to continue
until 1921, when the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Board
of Education took control of the studio. The V&A began
to operate the studio as a museum service, renaming it
the Department for the Sale of Casts, until 1951, when it,
too, could no longer afford to sustain it. More recently,
the function of cast making and cast conservation has
been revived at the V&A, along with an international
resurgence in interest in casts.
Seal from the Musees Nationaux, found on the SMM’s
cast of Silenos
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day. Statuary casting studios have been and remain the
most faithful and close collaborators of artists in three
dimensions.”
Most of the Slater Museum’s casts whose originals are from
the Cortile (Courtyard) del Belvedere in Rome were made
by Formatore Malpieri (Alessandro and Leopoldo Malpieri).
The stamp is clearly visible on these, but virtually no history
of the studio can be found.
Seal from the Malpieri casting studio in Rome, found on the
SMM’s cast of Menander.
We know from our archives that we have casts from the
Florentine-based plaster cast manufacturer, Oronzio Lelli,
but either its stamps are obscured by plaster skim-coating
or otherwise hidden from view. The company was based in
95 Corso de’ Tintori, 95, Florence. Later the company was
headed by Giuseppe Lelli, probably the son of Oronzio.
Brun as the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture; the title
was changed in 1793, when it merged with the Académie
d’Architecture, founded in 1671 by Jean Baptiste Colbert.
Besides its extensive collection of plaster casts of antiquities,
the École is known for its superb collection of old-master
drawings and for its exhibitions. Unfortunately, here again
we have no visible stamps from the École.
The museum’s casts of the Parthenon Frieze, which ring
the mezzanine, are partially from the Italian studio of
Martinelli. From the museum’s archives, where we have the
treasure of our cast collection designer, Edward Robinson
of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, we know that a dispute
arose. It seemed to stem from the lack of a shipment of
part of the Frieze, so apparently the missing sections came
from Brucciani in London, where the English company had
no problem understanding the language of the American
customer.
Thanks to our colleagues in the study of casts and their
place in museums, Birgitte Vase Agersnap, Curator
at Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen; Annetta
Alexandridis, Associate Professor of Classical Art and
Archaeology, Department of History of Art and Visual
Studies, Cornell University; Dr. Astrid Scherp-Langen,
Conservator, Bavarian National Museum and Robert
Shure, Skylight Studios and Caproni Gallery and Slater
Cast Conservator, we have been able to at least partly
piece together the history of the last and most mysterious
visible seal on the Slater’s casts. Our four figures from the
western pediment of Temple of Athena, Aphaea, Aigina
Some of the Slater’s casts came from École des BeauxArts, the French national school of fine arts, on the Quai
Malaquais, Paris. It was founded in 1648 by Charles Le
Casts of the Parthenon Frieze frame the interior Cast Gallery of the
Slater Museum.
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each has its own stamp impressed on the horizontal
surface at their feet and the assemblage has one, impressed
in the front vertical surface of the plinth. These are very
difficult to see readily because they are deeply recessed
and throw considerable shadow upon themselves. With
the assistance of Barry Wilson, who crawled around on
the floor into tight spots with a camera and used our
bright photo lights, we were able to acquire images and
share them with our colleagues.
As we knew from the start and according to Dr. Agersnap,
Karl Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen, the Danish sculptor
involved with the discovery of the Temple of Athena,
Aphaea, used casts in his work with the restoration of the
Aigina-sculptures. However, apparently Thorvaldsen or
his studio did not make casts. Instead, the casts were most
likely made in Germany (or in situ in Greece and quickly
brought to Germany) and then to Rome and Thorvaldsen’s
studio. The originals and Thorvaldsen’s restorations are at
the Altes Museum in Munich. Thorvaldsen worked on the
sculptures from 1816-1817. The restorations were much
disputed and in the 1960’s the Director of the Museum,
Dieter Ohly, decided to remove Thorvaldsen’s restorations
(1963-1965).
Seal from the studio where the SMM’s figures from the
Temple of Athena at Aphaia were cast.
them. None of the molds of the casts made in Rome for
Thorvaldsen has survived because Ludwig I wanted molds
that would serve for no more than 5-6 casts, and then be
destroyed, so that no further high quality copies could be
made. This raises the question of whether Slater’s casts of
these four figures (erroneously arranged when compared
to the originals) actually came from first generation molds
or whether from molds made from copies.
The stamp has been determined by our colleagues to
be the mark of the Königliche Bayerische Technische
Hochschule zu München, Sammlung für Skulptur; or
Royal Bavarian Technical High School (College), Munich,
Collection for Sculpture (or the Plastic Arts.)
When casts of assemblages like the figures from the
Temple of Athena at Aphaia were made, multiple figures
were impressed with numerous stamps. This appears to
have been done to ensure that even were the exhibitor
to purchase only one of a set, the label would be visible.
The Slater Museum’s collection includes four central
figures from the western pediment, copies of work that
was restored by Thorvaldsen but may have been cast in
Munich.
Founded in 1868 by King Ludwig II (and possibly, it is his
coat of arms and not the one of Ludwig I who acquired
the Aegina figures), this is today the TU (Technische
Hochschule) München, or Technical College, Munich,
with its main building situated right behind the Glyptothek
(Cast Museum). It houses several collections such as
architectural models in cork or plaster casts. Many, many
thanks to the small, but close World of colleagues in cast
collections!
Although some of the molds and casts were made after the
figures were brought to Munich, casts of some of the figures
from Aegina had already been made by Louis François
Sebastian Fauvel in Athens 1811/12. After having seen
them in December, 1812, Wagner, adviser/ agent of King
Ludwig I of Bavaria, recommended that the King purchase
Casts in Thorvaldsen’s collection were probably made
in Rome, or possibly Greece, in connection with his
restoration work. Depicted here: artistic rendering
of the restoration of the figures from the Temple of
Athena at Aphaia.
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72nd Annual CT Artists Juried Show Opens
The Slater Museum’s 72nd Annual Connecticut Artists Juried Exhibition opened February
7 between two snow storms (as has become de
rigueur) with much fanfare and a block-buster
attendance number. This year’s juror was D.
Samuel Quigley, Director of the Lyman Allyn
Art Museum. The 2016 winners are, First Prize
- Diane Cadrain, West Hartford, for Coastal
Heath (Fiber); Second Prize - Ashby Carlisle,
Old Lyme, for Where Worlds Connect (Paper, metal, clay); Third Prize - Susan LaGrow,
Dayville, for Floating (Photography); Honorable Mention - Teresa Hnat, Colchester, for
Alone (Photography); Honorable Mention Scott Rhoades, Storrs, for Birch Tree (Acrylic
on board); Honorable Mention - Nan Runde,
Hartford, for My Name is James (Colored pencil); Katherine Forest Craft Foundation Prize
for Excellence in Fine Craft - Clement B. Watson, Lebanon, for Windows in the Pitcher (Segmented wood turning). There’s still time to see
the show, which closes March 18 with our now
annual Drink & Draw event.
Coastal Heath by Diana Cadrain, West Hartford, fiber art,
First Prize winner of the 2016 Connecticut Artists Juried
Exhibition.
11
THE 122nd SATURDAY MORNING
ART CLASS EXHIBTION
April 3 - April 27, 2016
Opening Reception: April 3, 1 - 3 p.m.
THE 126th NORWICH ART SCHOOL
STUDENT EXHIBITION
May 6 - 30, 2016
Opening Reception: May 6, 7 - 9 p.m.
Two successive exhibitions will feature art work by
NFA and elementary students who participated in the
various art courses offered during the academic
year. Paintings, drawings, prints and mixed
media pieces, photography and graphic designs,
sculpture, clay objects, metal and jewelry creations,
and wood working projects will be displayed.
Save the date for the opening of our Summer exhibition, Meadow Life, coming June 12, 2016!
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED