IPAMAA's Zoe Ortiz successfully defended her dissertation "The Sculptures and Urban Landscape of Gabii: A City in Transition" on Fri, Dec 9th. Zoe's dissertation "examines the collection of sculptures discovered at Gabii by art dealer and antiquarian Gavin Hamilton in the late 18th century. The discoveries include full-scale civic, imperial, and mythological sculptures and inscriptions as well as a large public space known as "Hamilton's forum." It explores the modifications made to the sculptures by Vincenzo Pacetti and E.Q. Visconti, as well as the curation of the collection, in order to create a more accurate picture of how the sculptures would have been seen in ancient times. Through an interdisciplinary approach, including archaeology, art history, and antiquarian studies, this study aims to recreate the ancient environment of Imperial Gabii and demonstrate the importance of understanding sculptures discovered without a thoroughly recorded archaeological context." Brava on your defense, Zoe!
