User:Serkatet/Lost-wax casting

Greece, Rome, and the Mediterranean
The lost-wax technique came to be known in the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age. It was a major metalworking technique utilized in the ancient Mediterranean world, notably during the Classical period of Greece for large-scale bronze statuary and in the Roman world.

Direct imitations and local derivations of Oriental, Syro-Palestinian and Cypriot figurines are found in Late Bronze Age Sardinia, with a local production of figurines from the 11th to 10th century BC. The cremation graves (mainly 8th-7th centuries BC, but continuing until the beginning of the 4th century) from the necropolis of Paularo (Italian Oriental Alps) contained fibulae, pendants and other copper-based objects that were made by the lost-wax process. Etruscan examples, such as the bronze anthropomorphic handle from the Bocchi collection (National Archaeological Museum of Adria), dating back to the 6th to 5th centuries BC, were made by cire perdue. Most of the handles in the Bocchi collection, as well as some bronze vessels found in Adria (Rovigo, Italy) were made using the lost-wax technique. The better known lost-wax produced items from the classical world include the "Praying Boy" c. 300 BC (in the Berlin Museum), the statue of Hera from Vulci (Etruria), which, like most statues, was cast in several parts which were then joined together. Geometric bronzes such as the four copper horses of San Marco (Venice, probably 2nd century) are other prime examples of statues cast in many parts. Examples of works made using the lost-wax casting process in ancient Greece largely are unavailable due to the common practice in later periods of melting down pieces to reuse their materials. Much of the evidence for these products come from shipwrecks. As underwater archaeology became more feasible, artifacts lost to the sea became more accessible. Statues like the Artemision Bronze Zeus or Poseidon (found near Cape Artemision), as well as the Victorious Youth (found near Fano), are two such examples of Greek lost-wax bronze statuary that were discovered underwater.

Some Late Bronze Age sites in Cyprus have produced cast bronze figures of humans and animals. One example is the male figure found at Enkomi. Three objects from Cyprus (held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York) were cast by the lost-wax technique from the 13th and 12th centuries BC, namely, the amphorae rim, the rod tripod, and the cast tripod.

Other, earlier examples that show this assembly of lost-wax cast pieces include the bronze head of the Chatsworth Apollo and the bronze head of Aphrodite from Satala (Turkey) from the British Museum.

Plans for Contributions
The section that is labelled "Greek, Roman and Mediterranean", lacks a bunch of potential examples of later Greek bronze sculptures

Additionally, could use more background information on why there isn't many surviving ancient Greek bronzes Possibly add image of Artemision Zeus/Poseidon bronze sculpture"still looking for sources on this item specifically"Might try to condense section, or potentially divide it? It seems a lot longer in relation to the other sections

definitely discuss shipwrecks

add more information to captions on images maybe

Potential Sources
Fullerton, Mark D.. Greek Sculpture. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central."contains information on construction of sculpture and also why there isn't many examples of ancient Greek bronze sculpture left today (they were melted down and the bronze was reused)"Dillon, Sheila. American Journal of Archaeology 101, no. 4 (1997): 806–7. https://doi.org/10.2307/506861 ."references the usage of lost wax casting method in ancient greece"Sparkes, Brian A. “Greek Bronzes.” Greece & Rome 34, no. 2 (1987): 152–68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/642943 ."this source briefly discusses underwater archaeology, and sculptures found by this means"Konstantinidi-Syvridi, E., & Kontaki, M. (2009). CASTING FINGER RINGS IN MYCENAEAN TIMES: TWO UNPUBLISHED MOULDS AT THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, ATHENS. The Annual of the British School at Athens, 104, 311–319. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20745370