Roman Stone Carvers and their Craft: A Socio-Economic and Technical History

This project will write the first comprehensive analysis of Roman stone carvers and their craft from both a socio-economic and technical perspective. Roman sculptors were responsible for an unmatched florescence of their craft that would influence generations of carvers from the Renaissance to today. And yet because we know of no ‘big names’—no Phidias, Michelangelo, Canova—the socio-economic world in which Roman sculptors operated and their technical expertise has been overlooked: they were ignored by contemporary elite writers and are understudied in histories of sculpture. This project will build on the applicant’s last fifteen years work in this field and capitalise on a renewed interest in makers and making in antiquity. Drawing together three datasets for the first time—inscriptions, archaeological evidence, and the working traces left by sculptors on their works—it will shed new light on a world of ancient craftspeople, their lived experiences, and working practices.