Portland vase
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008
Portland vase a Roman glass vase, known also as the Barberini vase. It is an unusually fine work of the late Augustan era (early 1st cent. BC). About 10 in. (25 cm) high and 22 in. (56 cm) in circumference, it is made of a deep, violet-blue glass overlaid with opaque, white glass into which figures are cut in cameo relief. The mythological scene probably represents Peleus and Thetis accompanied by Poseidon on one side and Aphrodite on the other; on the bottom there is a bust of a young man in a Phrygian cap, possibly Paris. The vase, found in an ancient marble sarcophagus excavated at Monte del Grano near Rome in the pontificate of Urban VIII (1623-44), was placed in the palace of the Barberini family. Sold c.1782, it passed through several hands until acquired by the Duke of Portland. It was lent in 1810 to the British Museum. While on loan it was vandalized and completely shattered (1845) but was so skillfully reconstructed that little trace of the destruction remains. In 1945 it was bought by the British Museum. The vase has been widely reproduced and copied; the most famous replicas were made (c.1789) in jasper ware by Josiah Wedgwood.
Bibliography: See W. Mankowitz, The Portland Vase and the Wedgwood Copies (1954).
Author not available, PORTLAND VASE.,
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research
|
A British Museum expert believes the figures adorning the ancient Portland Vase are Antony and Cleopatra.(News)(Brief Article)
History Today; 5/1/2004; 61 words
; A British Museum expert believes the figures adorning the ancient Portland Vase are Antony and Cleopatra. Susan Walker researched the cameo glass vessel after claims last year that it was a Renaissance fake. Dr Walker suggests the vase is indeed Roman and depicts Antony being seduced by Cleopatra
Read more
|
|
Terracotta eco-warrior ; Protester breaches security at the British Museum to put masks on exhibits
Evening Standard - London; 10/15/2007; ANDREW HOUGH; 425 words
; AN eco-protester breached security at the British Museum to put face masks on exhibits from the Chinese Terracotta Army. The man jumped barriers to place the masks bearing the slogan "CO2 emission polluter" on two of the life-sized figures to highlight China's poor pollution record. Security guards
Read more
|
|
The Pope's museum: in the June 1991 issue, John Pope-Hennessy's waspish memoirs were given a stinging review by John Rowlands, then Keeper of Prints and drawings at the British Museum.(FROM THE APOLLO ARCHIVES)
Apollo; 3/1/2006; Rowlands, John; 443 words
; Generally speaking, at the British Museum Pope-Hennessy felt less sure of himself than at the V&A, for he was unfamiliar with the collections, apart from some acquaintance with Old Master drawings, and he lacked any proper scholarly knowledge of most of them. Since he was keenly sensitive about
Read more
|
|
Renewed financial crisis at British Museum raises question of blame ANALYSIS: High-profile debacles mask huge fall in funding levels
The Independent - London; 5/21/2002; Louise Jury Media Correspondent; 787 words
; SINCE A scathing report revealed six years ago that the British Museum did not employ a single accountant, a giant question mark has hovered over any discussion of its finances and governance. And with the financial position deteriorating, the question of who is to blame will once again be asked.
Read more
|
 "The Evening Standard (London, England)")
|
Saving Iraq's heritage; Director Neil MacGregor should be celebrating the British Museum's 250th anniversary but instead finds himself on an international mission.
The Evening Standard (London, England); 4/17/2003; Maddocks, Fiona; 787 words
; Byline: FIONA MADDOCKS THE director of the British Museum is visibly agitated. Today, his legendary calm and courteous manner cannot hide exasperation. Moments before we meet, and after three days of scandalised headlines on the looting in Iraq, Neil MacGregor has learned that the ransacked Baghdad
Read more
|
