Sensational Metamorphosis

Abigail Davis

Advisor: Dr. Nassos Papalexandrou

Abstract

Humans view works of art in the context in which we are experiencing it. When examining works from antiquity, we must acknowledge the necessary function of historical context to act as an educational tool that uncovers the authenticity and reality of humankind’s past. However, the validity of this function is sustained only by human interaction with the objects. This idea integrates into the history of these objects, which brought it to where we are now: an elevated art historical research to social and cultural discourse. Analysis of the evolving reception of antiquity through the history and contextualization of Late Classical sculpture, Marble Statue of a Woman, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art supports this theory. The changing visage of the Met statue, seen through the eyes of collectors, curators, and artists of the past and present, reflect the changing agency of visual culture. The context in which art objects are viewed, not created, is what determines their continued relevance. It is our interaction with objects, the sensation of linking the physical past with our present reality, that activates the metamorphosis of artworks to a collective fiction.