Iris Love

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Iris Cornelia Love (born August 1, 1933 in New York ; † April 17, 2020 there ) was an American classical archaeologist . She was best known for the discovery of the so-called Aphrodite sanctuary at Knidos .

Life

Iris Love is the daughter of Audrey Josephthal and Cornelius Love and, on her mother's side, a great-great-granddaughter of Meyer Guggenheim .

She became interested in archeology and art history from an early age, encouraged by scholars who were frequent guests in her parents' home, including James Rorimer , director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art , and archaeologist Gisela MA Richter , who worked for decades in the antiquities department of the MET and was the curator for a long time .

Love graduated from Smith College , where she received her bachelor's degree. During her studies at the University of Florence , by comparing the Etruscan warrior figures in the Museo archeologico nazionale di Firenze with those in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she came to the conclusion that the latter must be forgeries. She then wrote her bachelor's thesis on these characters and based her assumption on it, but hesitated to publish them, mainly out of respect for James Rorimer and GMA Richter, who had researched the characters and was convinced of their authenticity. In 1960 Love finally decided to publish it. She warned the Metropolitan Museum, which, however, just ahead of her and announced the New York Times the pieces as forgeries, without recognizing Love's work.

After graduating, Iris Love went to New York University , where she began researching for her doctoral thesis , which she never completed. From 1957 to 1965 she worked on the excavation of the New York University Institute of Fine Arts on the island of Samothrace and became an assistant professor at the CW Post College of the private Long Island University in the mid-1960s .

In 1966 she traveled with the Turkish archaeologist Aşkıdil Akarca by ship to Knidos , which impressed her very much. She returned to Long Island University and raised funds for an excavation campaign in Knidos in the coming year. After the success of her first own excavation campaign, she managed to raise more funds and from then on to explore more parts of the ancient city every year. In 1969, her team discovered a foundation that Love believed to be the remains of the Temple of Aphrodite. In 1970 she saw her suspicion confirmed by finds of inscriptions (but this interpretation is now doubted). The discovery, which she unveiled at the Archaeological Institute of America's annual meeting in 1970 , attracted international media attention. The excavation site was visited by many famous guests with whom Love was in personal contact, including Mick and Bianca Jagger , which generated additional attention, but also earned her the criticism of converting the excavation into a private vacation spot.

In 1970 Love was embroiled in another controversial research discussion, believing that she had found the original head of Aphrodite von Knidos des Praxiteles in the British Museum's depots , which she herself described as one of the most spectacular discoveries in the history of ancient art. Bernard Ashmole , curator of the Greco-Roman collection, vehemently denied this interpretation (as well as the implied accusation of having overlooked the masterpiece by then) . The public dispute between Iris Love and employees of the museum attracted attention in the daily press. Love focused on finding the statue in the following years of excavation. To this end, she had numerous deep search trenches dug, which still characterize the area of ​​ancient Knidos today.

After the Turkish government had withdrawn her research license for Knidos, Love took up several new research projects, including in Ancona and on the Gulf of Naples , where she mainly looked for other Aphrodite sanctuaries.

Iris Love later retired from archeology. After long stays in Greece and Italy, she returned to New York, where she lived for many years with the well-known tabloid journalist Liz Smith and dedicated herself to breeding dachshunds , for which she won several awards. On April 17, 2020, Love died of a SARS-CoV-2 infection during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States .

Fonts

  • A stylistic discussion concerning the authenticity of the three Etruscan warriors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In: Marsyas. Studies in the history of art. No. 9, 1960-1961, pp. 14-35.
  • Kantharos or Karchesion? A Samothracian contribution. In: Lucy Freeman Sandler (Ed.): Essays in memory of Karl Lehmann. New York 1964, pp. 204-222.
  • Knidos-excavations in 1967. In: Türk arkeoloji dergisi. No. 16,2, 1967, pp. 133-140.
  • Knidos-excavations in 1968. In: Türk arkeoloji dergisi. No. 17.2, 1968, pp. 123-141.
  • A preliminary report of the excavations at Knidos, 1969. In: American Journal of Archeology . No. 74, 1970, 149-155.
  • Preliminary report of the excavations at Knidos, 1970. In: American Journal of Archeology. No. 76, 1972, pp. 61-76.
  • A preliminary report of the excavations at Knidos, 1971. In: American Journal of Archeology. No. 76, 1972, pp. 393-405.
  • Excavations at Knidos, 1971. In: Türk arkeoloji dergisi. No. 20,2, 1973, pp. 97-109.
  • Excavations at Knidos 1972. In: Türk arkeoloji dergisi. No. 21,2, 1974, pp. 85-96.
  • A preliminary report of the excavations at Knidos, 1972. In: American Journal of Archeology. No. 77, 1973, pp. 413-424.
  • A brief summary of excavations at Knidos 1967-1973. In: Ekrem Akurgal (ed.): The proceedings of the Xth International Congress of Classical Archeology, Ankara - Izmir 23. – 30.IX.1973. Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara 1978, pp. 1111–1133.
  • Ophiuchus Collection. Florence 1989, ISBN 88-7038-174-9 .

literature

  • John H. Davis: The Guggenheims. Robber barons and philanthropists. Translated from the English by Rosemarie Winterberg. Schweizer Verlagshaus, Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-7263-6433-1 , pp. 368–377, 393–395.
  • Michael Gross : Rogues' Gallery. The secret history of the moguls and the money that made the Metropolitan Museum . Broadway Books, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-7679-2488-7 , pp. 256-258 (see the critical review by Oscar White Muscarella : [1] ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Iris Love In: David Shavit: The United States in the Middle East: a historical dictionary. Greenwood Press (1988), 214.
  2. ^ Christine Mitchell Havelock: The Aphrodite of Knidos and her successors. A historical review of the female nude in Greek art. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1995, ISBN 0-472-10585-X , pp. 60-61.
  3. ↑ fingers in the dust. Nomen est omen: A lady named Love discovered the temple of love. In: Der Spiegel 4/1970. January 19, 1970. Retrieved June 30, 2014 .
  4. ↑ a b c Bob Morris: In Iris Love's Wide Circle of Friends. In: The New York Times . May 2, 2012, accessed June 30, 2014 .
  5. ^ Lincoln Evening Journal, November 9, 1970
  6. ↑ Christine Bruns-Özgan: Knidos. In: Wolfgang Radt (Ed.): City excavations and urban research in western Asia Minor. Planned and achieved. International Symposium 6./7. August 2004 in Bergama (Turkey) (= Byzas. Volume 3). Ege Yayınları, Istanbul 2006, ISBN 975-8071-24-6 , p. 168.
  7. ^ Judy Wieder: Liz Smith Tells on Herself. In: The Advocate . February 24, 2009, accessed June 30, 2014 .
  8. ↑ Iris Love Obituary. In: The New York Times. Legacy.com, April 19, 2020, accessed April 19, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Iris Love, archaeologist who discovered the Temple of Aphrodite - obituary. telegraph.co.uk, April 24, 2020, accessed April 28, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Love, Iris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Love, Iris Cornelia (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Classical Archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH 17th April 2020
Place of death New York City