The Materiality of Epigraphic Squeezes: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Documenting Squeezes in Museum Collections
(2019) Lasting Impressions 2019 — Location: Oxford (28.June.2019)
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- Authors
Van de Ven, Annelies 
- Abstract
- The presence of a squeeze collection within an institution reflects the history of epigraphic scholarship undertaken by its members. In the case of Musée L, the University Museum associated with the Université Catholique de Louvain, the collection of squeezes dates to the late 19th century and it reflects the growth of the discipline of biblical archaeology in Belgium, at the time a subdiscipline of the theology department. It was created by René Maere, a Belgian priest who had trained in Rome, and it reflects his own interests. The collections were accompanied by a series of notes by Maere, connecting individual squeezes to the history of early Christian faith and epigraphy, and particularly to the works of De Rossi and Marucchi. In the latter half of the 20th century, the collection became disconnected from its context and its biblical background, with staff focusing instead on it’s potential for teaching Classical languages to students. The narrowing of the squeeze collection’s associations, and thus its functionality is now being drawn into question. The rise of interdisciplinary studies integrating archaeological and epigraphical approaches, has resulted in a new set of research questions that take into account the materiality of the squeeze, its biography of interpretation and its relationship to its inscription which is archaeologically contextualised. In this paper, I apply these considerations to the Musée L squeeze collection, its documentation and dissemination through research and display. By exploring these squeezes using an interdisciplinary and constellatory approach I will present them not just as textual copies but as complex and socialised artefacts in their own right.
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Van de Ven, A. (2019). The Materiality of Epigraphic Squeezes: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Documenting Squeezes in Museum Collections. Lasting Impressions 2019, Oxford. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/213662