The biography of the Lateran squeezes: The curation of archaeological knowledge through hands-on replication

ABSTRACT

Replicas have the ability to communicate artistic, cultural and intellectual values outside their original context. They do this by physically establishing a canon for ordering and interpreting history. Epigraphical squeezes, as fragmentary impressions of sculpted or incised surfaces, are one example of such replicas, occupying a transitory space between source and copy. However, they are rarely studied within this framework, instead seen primarily as an aide for publication. To better understand how squeezes are implicated in our own processes of knowledge formation, this paper focuses on a single case study, the collection of early Christian squeezes held at Musée L. In mapping the biography of this collection, tracing its connection to the emergence of archaeology as a science based on interaction with material remains at the turn of the twentieth century, this case study will provide a rich model for how squeezes can act as sources for historiographical inquiry.

KEYWORDS:

• Epigraphy
• object biography
• history of archaeology
• museology
• replicas

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I would like to thank Umberto Utro (Musei Vaticani, Curator of Ancient Christian Collections), Pietro Zander (Ufficio Scavi della Fabbrica di San Pietro, Director of Archaeological Services) and Bénédicte Baudoin (Commission culturelle du Centre diocésain de Besançon, Curator) for sharing their expertise and their time with me during my project.

2 These were initially inventoried as part of an internship undertaken by art history and archaeology student Sylvie Roucou in 2010 and translated into French by Louise Willocx in 2014.

3 Later in life Marucchi became a strong supporter of the fascist party and did much to support its cultural programmes. His allegiance with this political ideology has meant that his work has, understandably, been cast in a critical light. See P. Piacentini, ‘Italy,’ in A History of World Egyptology, ed. by A. Bednarski, A. Dodson and S. Ikram (Cambridge, 2020), p. 379.

4 The inscription on the urn containing Pope Pius IX’s praecordia which was kept in St. Peter’s Crypt at the Vatican is also included among the squeeze collection (MA.ES 95).

5 This is the predecessor of the Université catholique de Louvain where the collections are currently held. Before 1968 the University was a single entity but was split into a Dutch-speaking university which remained in Leuven and a French-speaking university that moved to Louvain-la-Neuve. For more on this see A. d’Haenens, L’Université catholique de Louvain Vie et mémoire d’une institution (Bruxelles, 1992).

6 The three men also helped to lay the foundations of the Institut supérieur d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'art at the University in 1942 completely shedding any notion of archaeology as an auxiliary science. See J. Lavalleye, ‘L'Institut Supérieur d' Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art de l'Université catholique de Louvain. Histoire et témoignage,’ Revue des archéologues et historiens d'art de Louvain (1969), pp. 7–38.

7 He presented his desire at the Assemblée Générale des Catholiques in 1864, a year after the same congress had moved to create a course in Christian archaeology for Belgium’s primary Catholic university. See Assemblée générale des Catholiques en Belgique: 2e session à Malines 29 aout-3 septembre 1864 (Brussels, 1865), p. 504; see also B. Van den Driesche, La collection des moulages de l’UCLouvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, 2019), pp. 16–17; Assemblée générale des Catholiques en Belgique: 1e session à Malines 18–22 aout 1863 (Brussels, 1864).

8 Letter from René Maere to Rector Paulin Ladeuze on 8 December 1922.

9 The identification of the Damasian style derives from the many monumental catacomb inscriptions composed by Pope Damasus (366–384) in his efforts to draw attention to the graves of early Christian martyrs as sites of pilgrimage. His inscriptions were monumental: written in classical capital letters and carved into large marble slabs that marked key places of worship. See E. Thunø, The Apse Mosaic in Early Medieval Rome: Time, network, and repetition (Cambridge, 2015), p. 172 and D. E. Trout, ‘Damasus and the Invention of Early Christian Rome,’ Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 33.3 (2003), pp. 517–536.

10 This division has been partially retained in the move of the collection to the Vatican Museums.

11 G. B. De Rossi, Il Museo epigrafico cristiano Pio-Lateranense: Memoria (Rome, 1877), pp. 99–100.

12 For a critical view of how De Rossi’s faith impacted his archaeological interpretations see N. Denzey, The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome (Cambridge, 2020).

13 G. B. De Rossi, Il Museo epigrafico cristiano Pio-Lateranense: Memoria (Rome, 1877), pp. 99–100.

14 These can be identified in his notes as they have no individual museum object number associated with them. However, he does group them together by theme with those he copied from the museum’s walls.

15 The Cippus of Abericus is an inscription that was found in a fragmented state that was originally part of the tomb of bishop Abericus of Hieropolis. See M. M. Mitchell, ‘Looking for Abercius: Reimagining Contexts of Interpretation of the ‘Earliest Christian Inscription’,’ in Commemorating the Dead: Texts and Artifacts in Context, ed. by L. Brink and D. Green (de Gruyter, 2008), pp. 303–335.

16 The inventory number of the original inscription at the Musei Vaticani is 32032.

17 Loculi were rectangular burial niches carved into the walls of the catacombs. For an in depth study of catacomb architecture and tomb types see V. F. Nicolai, F. Bisconti and D. Mazzoleni, The Christian Catacombs of Rome: History, Decoration, Inscriptions (Regensburg, 2009), pp. 16–20.

18 The monogram spelling out the Greek letters chi (χ) and rho (ρ), a shortened version of Christ, the alpha and omega showing god as both the beginning and the end, the laurel wreath as a sign of Christ’s victory over death and the doves representing Christian souls at peace.

19 A. E. Gordon, ‘Seven Latin Inscriptions in Rome,’ Greece & Rome 20.59 (1951), pp. 90–92.

20 P. R. Davis ‘The Twentieth Century Life of a “Hellenisic” or “Imperial Roman” Statue of a Bull,’ in Object Biographies: Collaborative Approaches to Ancient Mediterranean Art, ed. by J. N. Hopkins, S. K. Costello and P. R. Davis (Houston, 2021), p. 128.

21 See J. Iacchei and M. Hamil, ‘Epigraphic Squeezes: Modern Impressions of Ancient History,’ Archival Products, 18.4 (2014), 1.

22 A. G. Woodhead, The Study of Greek Inscription (Cambridge, 1981), p. 78.

23 See A. G. Woodhead, The Study of Greek Inscription (Cambridge, 1981), p. 78 and C. Traunecker, ‘Les techniques d’épigraphie de terrain: principes et pratique,’ in Problems and Priorities in Egyptian Archaeology, ed. by J. Assman, G. Burkard and V. Davies (London, 1987), p. 169 for extensive discussions on squeeze materials.

24 An attempt was made to assess whether traces of paint had remained on the squeezes by Jacqueline Couvert using XRF. Ultimately, no paint was detected. This is likely due to the heavy use of the squeezes for teaching and their regular cleaning.

25 W. Benjamin, The Arcades Project (Cambridge, 1999), p. 447.

26 N. D. Lewis, The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome (Cambridge, 2020), pp. 211–250.

27 See the description provided by the curatorial team at <https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en/collezioni/reparti/reparto-antichita-cristiane.html> [accessed 4 March 2021].

28 G. Lønstrup Dal Santo, ‘Rites of Passage: On Ceremonial Movements and Vicarious Memories,’ in The Moving City: Processions, Passages and Promenades in Ancient Rome, ed. by I. Ostenberg, S. Malmberg and J. Bjørnebye (London, 2015), pp. 145–154.

29 V. F. Nicolai, F. Bisconti and D. Mazzoleni, The Christian Catacombs of Rome: History, Decoration, Inscriptions (Regensburg, 2009), p. 60; L. Spera, ‘“Hic constituit supra memorias martyrum missas celebrare. Interventi papali su tombe di martiri per la celebrazione ad corpus tra tarda antichità e altomedioevo,’ in L. Spera, Martiri ed Eucaristia nella civiltà Cristiana: L’Eucaristia, forza dei Martiri, fonte della testimonianza Cristiana (Rome, 2007), pp. 43–69; L. Spera, ‘The Christianization of Space along the via Appia: Changing Landscape in the Suburbs of Rome,’ American Journal of Archaeology, 107.1 (2003), pp. 23–43.

30 C. Carletti, ‘Viatores ad martyres: Testimonianze scritte altomedievali nelle catacombe romane,’ in Epigrafia medievale greca e latina: Ideologia e funzione, ed. by G. Cavallo and C. Mango (Spoleto, 1995), pp. 197–225.

31 See Nicolai, Bisconti and Mazzoleni, p. 66.

32 This was not always done in a logical way as Harry Leon noted when he visited the Jewish Catacombs of Rome in the 1920s. See H. J. Leon, ‘The Jewish Catacombs and Inscriptions of Rome,’ Hebrew Union College Annual, 5 (1928), 310.

33 Insights provided by Umberto Ultro during a research visit to the Vatican collection in June 2019.

34 See D. A. Scott, ‘Art Restoration and its Contextualisation,’ The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 51.2 (2017) for more insights into how conservation attitudes have changed over time.

35 D. Kimmel, ‘Between Real Things and Experience. Authenticity as a Value for the Museum of the Present Day,’ in Museums – Places of Authenticity? ed. by D. Kimmel and S. Brüggerhoff (Mainz, 2020), pp. 1–19.

36 H. D. Davis Parker and C. A. Rollston, ‘Teaching Epigraphy in the Digital Age,’ in Ancient Manuscripts in Digital Culture: Visualisation, Data Mining, Communication, ed. by D. Hamidović, C. Clivaz and S. Bowen Savant (Leiden, 2019), pp. 192–193.

37 M. McMahon, ‘Representing Material Evidence: The Catacombs in Print,’ Journal of Historical Ideas 2016.

38 J. Lavalleye, ‘In Memoriam Monseigneur René Maere,’ Annuaire de l’Université catholique de Louvain 88 (1949–1950), LXXXVI.

39 A clear case in which he did not do this was MA.ES 17 as this inscription had already been removed from the sarcophagus and integrated into the wall of the Museo Pio-Lateranense by the time he copied it.

40 R. Frederiksen and E. Marchand, Plaster Casts: Making, Collecting and Displaying from Classical Antiquity to the Present (Berlin, 2010), p. 1.

41 Edits to reproductions that unintentionally alter their contents in scholarship occurred not only in the case of squeezes but also plaster casts. For examples see J. Bodel, ‘Epigraphy and the Ancient Historian,’ in Epigraphic Evidence, ed. by J. Bodel (London, 2001), pp. 53–55.

42 The ES stands for estampage.

43 These displays date back to the previous museum, the Musée de Louvain-la-Neuve, housed in the basement of the Arts Library. The museum was closed in 2014 and re-opened in a new location, the old Science Library, in November 2017 as Musée L.

44 A. E. Cooley, The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy (Cambridge, 2012), p. 373. Here we see evidence of erasure and recarving as the person who commissioned the inscription was originally set to be interred in the Praetextati Catacombs but ended up being buried in a new gallery of tombs in the Balbinae cemetery.

45 The rotation of paper collections is standard practice in the museum to avoid discolouration or fading due to light exposure or stress on the material due to vertical display. For more details see NEDCC, ‘Protecting Paper and Book Collections during Exhibitions’ in The Environment (Andover, 2020) <https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/preservation-leaflets/2.-the-environment/2.5-protecting-paper-and-book-collections-during-exhibition> [accessed 5 March 2021].

46 K. Molineux, ‘Permanent Collection Exhibitions,’ in Manual of Museum Exhibitions, ed. by M. Piacente (London, 2022), p. 62.

47 See the project website <https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/incal/humanisme.html> [accessed 5 March 2021].

48 See the exhibition website <https://archiveobjets.wordpress.com/> [accessed 5 March 2021].

49 See the video of the squeezes’ conservation in action <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfLz6kI0ijY> [accessed 5 March 2021].

50 See the photographs made for the surface analysis <https://archiveobjets.wordpress.com/enregistrement-du-relief-dun-estampage/> [accessed 5 March 2021]. For more on RTI as a method for analysing inscriptions see J. Bodel, ‘Latin Epigraphy and IT Revolution,’ in Epigraphy and the Historical Sciences, ed. by J. Davies and J. Wilkes (Oxford, 2012), pp. 289–290.

51 S. Pearce, On Collecting: An Investigation into Collecting in the European Tradition (London, 1995), p. 355.

52 C. Booth, Excavating Paper Squeezes: Identifying the Value of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Squeezes of Ancient Egyptian Monuments, through the Collections of Seven UK Archives (Birmingham, 2018), pp. 76–77.

53 Quoted from the report of Louise Willocx.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by an FSR Move-In Post-Doctoral Fellowship Grant.

Notes on contributors

Annelies Van de Ven

Annelies Van de Ven is a post-doctoral researcher in archaeology at the Université catholique de Louvain. Her research focuses on the biographies of archaeological collections within the context of late nineteenth and early twentieth century international relations. She currently collaborates with Musée L to examine the personal archives and acquisitions of the University’s early archaeologist. Prior to this she completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne considering the biography of the Cyrus Cylinder as a contested object and its interpretation in museums.