From 19th to 21st century: a gaze on classics through a study of the Frieze of the Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassai

Abstract

19th century art created a link with Classical art that has had a remarkable influence on the way we understand and relate to antiquity. The re-discovery of the temple of Apollo at Bassai Epikourios in 1811, in the territory of Arcadia, is a case in point. Its frieze, preserved in London, in the British Museum, has been the subject of our study to analyze three different historical moments that shaped this frieze: the 5th century BC, the time of the completion of the frieze, the 19th century, the time of excavation archaeological, and the 21st century, when we study and propose new approaches to the frieze.

Since its discovery, the originality of this frieze allowed rethink the classical and in the same way it has allowed us to look at this artistic legacy from the contemporary.

From the Gracmon research group at the Departament of Art History), through the project El Otro siglo XIX (ref. HAR2010-16328/HIST) we are studying this influence that joins Archeology, Historiography and Fine Arts as usefull tools to review the art of the past.