- Department of Classical Studies
The College of Wooster
Wooster, Ohio 44691
Josephine Shaya
The College of Wooster, Classical Studies, Faculty Member
- Josephine Shaya (Ph.D., University of Michigan), Associate Professor of Classical Studies at the College of Wooster, ... moreJosephine Shaya (Ph.D., University of Michigan), Associate Professor of Classical Studies at the College of Wooster, specializing in Roman history and archaeology. She has published on monuments, memory, travel, and the history of collecting in antiquity. She currently serves as the Museum Review Editor for the American Journal of Archaeology.edit
While the Romans did not have museums, practices of collecting and display were fully developed in Rome. Romans used collections of objects to substantiate, reinforce, and broadcast particular views of the world. This chapter shows how... more
While the Romans did not have museums, practices of collecting and display were fully developed in Rome. Romans used collections of objects to substantiate, reinforce, and broadcast particular views of the world. This chapter shows how current work in museum studies opens new avenues of research into Roman art. It draws on recent scholarship on collecting that explores debates over cultural property, questions of viewing, and the role of collections in the construction of personal and imperial identities. It is herewith the appropriation of patrimony, with the creation of art, and with ideas of a universal artistic heritage-that we find ancient analogs of modern museums.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The April 2017 AJA carried a review of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España in Madrid (MAN). That review requires an addendum. A full account of the new installation of MAN’s collection must acknowledge the display of some recently... more
The April 2017 AJA carried a review of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España in Madrid (MAN). That review requires an addendum. A full account of the new installation of MAN’s collection must acknowledge the display of some recently acquired antiquities with unknown provenance and dubious history.
Research Interests:
Archaeology museums are one of the most important ways that our field communicates its findings to the wider public. 1 The work of archaeology museums, however, is by no means simple. Archaeologists, curators, and museum directors have... more
Archaeology museums are one of the most important ways that our field communicates its findings to the wider public. 1 The work of archaeology museums, however, is by no means simple. Archaeologists, curators, and museum directors have grappled with recent debates focusing on the politics of display, the cult of the masterpiece, the appeal to multiple publics, and the acquisition and ownership of cultural property. 2 This is an exciting and fraught time for archaeological collections. It is in this context that we should look to the recent renovation of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España (MAN) in Madrid. The new installation , opened to the public in April 2014, addresses many current issues in the field in meaningful ways: it aims for universal accessibility; it embraces technology; it values the effective communication of archaeological findings to a wide audience; it emphasizes the fundamental importance of archaeological and historical context; and it historicizes the museum itself. Potential dangers lurk in the choices that guided MAN's renovation. Appeals to a broad audience, for instance, can lead to the watering down of scholarly rigor, the Disneyfication of the past, the valorization of attention-grabbing technologies over the objects themselves, and the heavy-handed intrusion of the curator onto the viewer's experience. While these threats exist, they are not in evidence at MAN. The new installation offers an importantand what is likely to be influentialmodel for the exhibition of archaeological collections. MAN holds one of the outstanding archaeological collections in Europe. Its origins lie in the 19th-century European creation of national museums. It was founded in 1867 by Queen Isabella II (1830-1904) with the aim of documenting the entire history of Spain and offering an overview of ancient civilizations. Originally, MAN brought together material from three different institutionsthe Museum of Medals and Antiquities at the National 1 The reviewer would like to thank Andrés Carretero Pérez, director of the Museo Ar-queológico Nacional, who kindly provided much information about the renovation project. Thanks also to Elaine Gazda, for sharing her knowledge about many recent museum renovations, and to Yolanda García. Additional figures can be found under this article's abstract on AJA Online (www.ajaonline.org).