Plaster Cast of the relief Boston Throne

Host Dr Craig Barker is joined by classical archaeologist Dr Alina Kozlovski to discuss the tradition of plaster casts of Greek and Roman antiquities popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Using the Nicholson collection's century old cast of the Boston Throne as a starting point they discuss the popularity of casting for educational and aesthetic reasons, the influence of casts on modern perceptions of the Classical past and the role of authenticity in collections and interpretations. The Boston Throne is three-sided marble relief sculpture now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts similar to the Ludovisi Throne and said to have been discovered in Rome in 1894. It has variously been interpreted as a mid-fifth century BC Greek original, a Roman marble copy and as a modern forgery. The Sydney cast would have been made in the early 20th century. Can we use casts, copies and replicas to understand the ancient past?

Guest: Dr Alina Kozlovski is a Curator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and soon to take up the role of Lecturer of Digital Innovation (Ancient History and Archaeology) at the University of New England. Her research on plaster casts has also seen her work at the Powerhouse Museum as a MAAS Research Fellow in 2021. Follow Alina @AlinaKozlovski on Twitter.

Host: Dr Craig Barker, Head of Public Engagement, Chau Chak Wing Museum and Director, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Excavations. Follow @DrCraig_B on Twitter and Instagram.

Object details: Plaster cast of the Boston Throne; NM2008.23