Student Assistant Clara Sawatzki has written the first blog post for verso, the new Hypotheses research blog of the Census. Please follow the link below for the full version of her text, published in both English and in German.
Geflügelte Pferde und schneckenförmige Delfine: Eine erweiterte Sicht auf die Antikenzeichnungen in der Census-Winged Horses and Snail-shaped Dolphins: A Broader Perspective on Drawings after the Antique in the Census Database
A sketchbook in Oxford dating to the first half of the 16th century (Ashmolean Museum inv. KP 668) is an intriguing work, not only because of its images of winged horses and dolphins with spiral-shaped tailfins, but also because of the art-historical questions it raises. The author of this codex, its function, as well as the original context that gave shape to these drawings inspired the antique remain unclear. In the Census database, the codex is listed as a “document” of the ancient works it depicts, although questions concerning the drawings themselves have so far only been of secondary importance. A closer look reveals, however, that a one-sided view of 16th century drawings as “documents” overlooks their independent artistic value. The imaginative drawings in the Codex also opens questions about how to update the data model of the Census.
