Johnson Museum publishes guide to Cornell's classical art collections

Palmyrene Bust (Roman Province of Syria), second-third century A.D., limestone; given in 2002 by Genevieve and Richard Tucker, Cornell Class of 1950. Johnson Museum Digital Access Project (Matthew Ferrari and Michael Holobosky)

A stunning handbook of Greek and Roman art works in Cornell's collections has just been published by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

The guide is written by Cornell Professors Peter Kuniholm and Andrew Ramage and Nancy Ramage, a professor at Ithaca College, and includes illustrations of major pieces of pottery, ceramics, everyday objects and coins. The book's foreword is by President Hunter Rawlings.

All three authors offer commentary on the university's classical collections. Kuniholm's introduction gives an overview of the collections and discusses the instructional role of the Henry Sage Cast Collection (many pieces from it are still on view throughout Goldwin Smith Hall).

"This book celebrates Cornell's more than 100 years of collecting Greek and Roman art as tools for teaching and research," said Frank Robinson, the Richard J. Schwarz Director of the museum. "We are grateful to Peter Kuniholm, Andrew Ramage and Nancy Ramage for their enthusiasm and hard work on this project. They have helped us all appreciate the strength of the university's collections, which continue to grow and develop every year."

Two items from Cornell's classical collections, reproduced from A Guide to the Classical Collections of Cornell University. Above: Horse and Rider, ca. 700 B.C., Athens or Boeotia, terracotta; a gift of Norbert Schimmel. Johnson Museum Digital Access Project

The book was edited by Jane Terrell, Cornell Class of 2001. Funding for the project was provided by the Johnson Museum, the Laistner Endowment of Cornell Studies in Classical Philology and by the Hull Memorial Publication Fund of Cornell University.

The works are in the collections of the museum and the Department of Classics. The book includes a short "Stroller's Companion to Classical Art on the Cornell Campus," which offers a quick guide to works on view every day. For more information, call the museum at 255-6464.