| This project was completed as part of my MA (Joint Hons.) in History of Art and English Literature at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Instead of writing a straightforward dissertation, I chose to take the "Introduction to Multimedia" course, as I felt it was a better way of presenting the information I had collated on the Ludovisi and Boston Thrones. | I first saw the Thrones in the "I Greci in Occidente" exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, summer 1996,(to see the Western Greeks page, scroll down. It is at the bottom.) Although I had come across the thrones previously during my studies, when confronted with them the confusion surrounding the authenticity of the Boston Throne became apparent. I became intrigued by the ambiguity of the sculpture, and the processes available to try and resolve that ambiguity. |
| As to my own personal feelings about the authenticity of the Boston Throne... much as I would like it to be an authentic piece of 5th Century BC sculpture, I have severe doubts. I do not think it was completed by the same hand as the Ludovisi Throne, and I think it unlikely, given that the recent studies of the Ludovisi Throne have linked it convincingly (and singularly) to the temple at Locri, that the Boston Throne functioned as a complimentary sculpture at that time. My gut feeling is to go with the suggestion that it was made to compliment the Ludovisi Throne in Roman times, and used to adorn the ancient gardens of Sallust. However, I am amused by the idea that it could be a modern fake, which has been clever enough to baffle the most educated scholars of antique art for so long. Whatever; the fact is that the ambiguity surrounding the Boston Throne is one of the elements which makes the two Thrones so attractive. |
| Update (September 2013): I haven't changed this multimedia dissertation since I put it together in 1997. It remains my first "Digital Humanities" project! I'm now the Director of UCL Centre for Digital Humanities, and Professor of Digital Humanities in UCL Department of Information Studies - and things have moved on a bit since 1997, but I'm still fond and proud of this, my first foray into programming, and where I got the whole computing bug. Please contact me, Melissa Terras, at: m.terras@ucl.ac.uk |
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