OSTENTATION AND LUXURY FROM ANCIENT TO MODERN TIMES: HARD STONES, GEMSTONES AND GLASS

SCIENTIFIC COORDINATOR: Miguel Cisneros, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cantabria

The aim of these conferences is to present the results of the project Glass Imitations of Stones in the Roman Period and their Reinterpretation in the Modern Era (PID2020-117299GB-I00), funded by MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033, which is included within the framework of the phenomenon of fashion and luxury originating from the glass imitation of productions made in hard stones in Roman times. Some of these stone specimens were later reused for liturgical purposes or ended up in the collections of great patrons. This transmission denotes an interest in antiquity and in establishing a link with it, but it also reveals the desire to display good taste and the power of the owner. Furthermore, these antique copies were used as a model for other pieces that were manufactured at later dates, sometimes using the same raw material, thereby enhancing the ideological message of the copy, and they were also the basis for other more affordable pieces, manufactured using different materials, repeating an imitation pattern already known since ancient times. The interventions address philological, archaeological, historical-artistic and archaeometric aspects in different periods, and are aimed at and are of free access to both the general and specialized public. The participants in the conferences are members of the aforementioned project (belonging to the University of Cantabria, University of Zaragoza, National Archaeological Museum of Madrid, Museum of Zaragoza, Università degli Studi di Milano and Gallerie degli Uffizi di Firenze) and researchers and specialists from Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain.