Saturday, 28 September 2013

English for US Art Historians (2)


This is what we call a "lizard".

Apollo Sauroktonos by Praxiteles -
copia nei Musei Vaticani- Salla delle statue,
IV century B.C. (photo by M. Pardy)
This is not what we call a "python". Pythons don't have legs and they don't look much like lizards. Longer for a start. Of course if your statue is missing the tree and the animal, it's not possible to say if it was a python, lizard, or a koala.

See: Steven Litt, 'The Cleveland Museum of Art wades into global controversy over antiquities collecting with exhibition and catalog on its ancient bronze Apollo', The Plain Dealer September 27, 2013

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