First Advisor
Jesse Locker
Date of Award
Spring 6-12-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Cultural History of the Arts and University Honors
Department
Art + Art History + Design
Language
English
Subjects
Art History, Classical Reception, Etruscan, Walter Benjamin, Giuseppe Penone, Museum Studies
DOI
10.15760/honors.1871
Abstract
I use the occasion of the March 2024 exhibit,"Vulci. Goods for Mankind. Goods for Gods." at Milan's Luigi Rovati Foundation to consider how the museum's staging of Etruscan visual material cultural objects and contemporary sculptures by Italian artist Giuseppe Penone prompts viewers to perceive transhistorical bi-directional dialogues between the viewer and material culture as well as between the ancient and contemporary objects themselves.
Via a close reading of the exhibition while leveraging the three frameworks of aura, imprint and classical reception I analyze how the staging of the hypogeum creates a place of atmosphere. I argue this is done through the architectural design by creating a liminal, sacred space cultivating an environment that prioritizes direct visceral engagement with the objects because of the museum's omission of interpretive text. As a consequence viewers are empowered to directly experience the authentic presence, or in Walter Benjamin terms, the aura of both ancient and contemporary objects. The personal encounter between the viewer and objects permits the viewer to imagine transhistoric bi-directional dialogues between the ancient and contemporary objects as well as comprehend the dialogues amongst themselves due to their mutual auratic gazes and materiality despite a temporal difference.
The museum experience can be transformed from a repository of ancient and contemporary artifacts or objects through its staging of perception and reception of juxtaposed aesthetic objects– creating sensory experiences for viewers linking the ancient and contemporary worlds together. In this way museum spaces can be engaging, presence driven cultural spaces.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44805
Recommended Citation
Morgan, Shelby, "Staging Reception / Perception: Transhistorical Bi-Directional Dialogues Between Etruscan Visual Cultural Objects and Giuseppe Penone's Contemporary Sculptures" (2026). University Honors Theses. Paper 1834.
https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.1871
Included in
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons, Contemporary Art Commons, Cultural History Commons, Fine Arts Commons