An Archaeologist’s Eye: The Parthenon Drawings of Katherine A. Schwab
September 13 – December 7, 2014

In 2005, Professor Katherine Schwab, professor of art history at Fairfield University, began experimenting with graphite and pastel on paper to develop a new method of recording her observations of the East and North metopes on the Parthenon, the most prominent temple on the Athenian Acropolis, in Greece. A metope (pronounced MEH-ta-pee) is a rectangular section of the frieze that runs around the top of many Doric-era or classically influenced buildings, and the ones on the Parthenon include particularly well-known but very damaged sculptural reliefs. A tension emerges in Schwab’s drawings between what is preserved and what has been lost, creating a theme of presence within absence. They let us reimagine the Parthenon metopes in our time and experience their sustained mythological narratives. Schwab’s drawings combine artistic ability and archaeological expertise, and, through the process of drawing, she has made new observations and discoveries. This exhibition is organized by the Bellarmine Museum of Art at Fairfield University, Creighton University and the Timken Museum of Art.