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SUMMARY:Race: Greek Sculpture and 'Stuffed Natives' at the Crystal Palace\
 , Sydenham. Defining the Classical Body in 1850s London - Kate Nichols (CR
 ASSH\, University of Cambridge)\; Discussant - Brian Murray (CRASSH\, Univ
 ersity of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20130117T133000Z
DTEND:20130117T153000Z
UID:TALK42649@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:William Carruthers
DESCRIPTION:In 2006\, London Underground was decked out with a British Mus
 eum advertising campaign featuring an image of the Discobolos\, and bearin
 g the slogan ‘Ever fancied abs that look like they’re carved out of st
 one? Try some training tips from ancient Greece\, the culture which gave u
 s the original six-pack.’ The campaign sparked several critical comment 
 pieces in the press\, which deemed it a cynical attempt to convince twenty
 -first century viewers of the collections’ ‘relevance’\, deriding th
 e Museum for latching on to ‘whatever is flying around in popular cultur
 e’. The idea that the ancient Greeks bodily resembled their statuary\, a
 nd that the enviable physiques of their sculpture were a product of an ath
 letic lifestyle specific to antiquity\, however\, boasts a pedigree reachi
 ng back to the very origins of modern writing on ancient sculpture. \n\nTh
 is paper examines the fixation on the relationship between Greek sculpture
  and the bodies of ancient Greeks\, looking in particular at the intersect
 ions between anthropology and classical archaeology\, two ‘sciences’ d
 eveloping side by side in mid-nineteenth-century Britain. I’ll be examin
 ing the role that the physical bodies of Greek sculpture played in definin
 g British national and ethnic identity\, and their contribution to Victori
 an ideas about race\, health and social class\, using the displays in the 
 Greek Court and the Natural History Department of the Crystal Palace as a 
 case study.
LOCATION:Seminar Room SG1 Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, Cambridg
 e CB3 9DT
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