NEWS AND UPDATES OF THE MUSEUM
The book CATALOG OF THE GAIETTO COLLECTION 0F PALEOLITHIC EUROPEAN SCULPTURE is now freely downloadable HERE.
The Catalogue offers a comprehensive look at the Gaietto Collection of European Paleolithic sculpture. The inventory data reported in the figure captions correspond to those reported on the sculptures themselves.Many of these sculptures are already present in the Museum. For a detailed description, see :Gaietto, P., Anthropomorphic Paleolithic Sculpture, 2012, Lulu.com (also available on Amazon and major distributors).
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PALEOLITHIC ART MAGAZINE
PHYLOGENESIS
OF BEAUTY - A UNIFIED THEORY OF EVOLUTION (2002)
FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON THE PALEOLITHIC ART, WE REMIND A FIRST FUNDAMENTAL REFERENCE TEXT BY P. GAIETTO:
PRE-SCULPTURE AND PREHISTORIC SCULPTURE. The book, with 164 images (photographs and drawings) is in Italian, but all the captions are translated into English. Some copies are still available from Licia Filingeri, editor of the works of Pietro Gaietto.
The work has grouped together the most expressive Paleolithic anthropomorphic sculpture found in archaeological sites of Europe, Asia, Africa and America, as well as the new acquisitions of the Gaietto collection.
The book and its evolutionist scientific approach has a didactic character for interpreting of the human species depicted. Every aspect of each sculpture is subdivided into its components.
It constitutes also a textbook for prehistoric archaeologists who want to research Paleolithic sculpture found in surface soils.
Collection of 222 Paleolithic anthropomorphic and zoomorphic sculptures from different regions of Europe, classified into 12 types and attributed to a period of about two million years.
The idea of this catalog was born as a result of an auspicious placement of the sculptures in the museums of prehistoric archeology of the regions of Italy in which they were found.
The division of the sculptures into 12 typologies progressively produced over two million years is helpful to the scholar, as it allows to visually interpret the evolution of the depicted human species, the composition of the sculptures, the types of stone work, the purpose of sculptures (religious subjects) and also to appreciate the evolution of the types of stylistic deformation (artistic fashion).
The Author explores the most important sacred animals in the European Paleolithic sculpture, with particular emphasis on the subdivision into five types. He also analyzes the evolution of these religious sculptures in the main proto-historic and historic civilizations. The work is enriched by numerous illustrations and explanatory drawings covering Paleolithic, proto-historic and historic eras.
Offering a great wealth of photographic material, " Iconography of Western Religions" reconstructs the origins and iconographic evolution of Western religious images. The origins and evolution of Paleolithic art, Author affirms, is the foundation from which Western religious images have evolved. Gaietto's careful reconstruction allows to appreciate over time the constant stylistic evolution, that is, the deformation of images which from time to time has produced a new type of beauty. The thrust of the book concerns three-dimensional art and the evolution of Western religions.
Gaietto reviews 200 years of research on prehistoric man, tracing the two-million year journey from Homo habilis to Modern man. Comparing skeletal remains and skulls with Paleolithic stone sculptures helps explain how different human civilizations came about and prevailed, in parallel or in association. The book uses skeletal finds to explain how one human species overlapped with another. In addition, little-known anthropomorphic sculpture from the Paleolithic is introduced to illustrate the physical evolution of man and aspects of prehistoric behavior similar to modern man, with a careful consideration of how human intelligence evolved.
THE MUSEUM HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REVISED AND UPDATED. FOR FURTHER UPDATING, PLEASE VISIT THE CONTENTS PAGE.
BICEPHALIC PALEOLITHIC SCULPTURES OF HUMAN HEADS JOINED AT THE NECK TO ANIMAL HEADS
Fig.9,7, with explanation by the Author
about spiritual and material culture.
Page translated from Italian into English by Paris Alexander Walker.
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