From memory to marble: the frieze of the Voortrekker Monument at Pretoria

从记忆到大理石：比勒陀利亚先民纪念碑的饰带

• 批准号: 254347259
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Rolf Michael Schneider
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Klassische Archäologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2013-12-31 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/254347259?language=en
• 关键词: memory; marble; frieze; Voortrekker; Monument

Professor Elizabeth Rankin (Dep. of Art History, University of Auckland) and I initiated in 2012 the research project from memory to marble: the frieze of the Voortrekker Monument. Our aim is to write a book in English for academics in the fields of art history and cultural, historical and political studies. As a prelude to our book project we wrote the article Copy nothing. Classical ideals and Afrikaner ideologies at the Voortrekker Monument (c. 21,500 words, 38 illustrations). The symmetrical Art Deco cube of the Voortrekker Monument, 62 meters high, dominates a hill side overlooking Pretoria: erected between 1938 and 1949 to celebrate the centenary of the so-called Great Trek and the Battle of Blood River (16 December 1838), in which Boer Voortrekkers (pioneers) adelthough outnumbered, defeated Zulu forces. The building, from its beginnings controversial, is the main South African monument of a nationalist Boer ideology and the pernicious politics of apartheid (1948-94). The buildings great surprise is a historical frieze made of Carrara marble, 2.3 meters high and 92 meters long overall, staged at eye level inside the Hall of Heroes, an uninterrupted space of 30 x 30 x 30 meters. The frieze consists of 27 individual historical scenes referring to the different treks (departure, religion, advance, negotiation, victory, annexation of land, building works, treaty, etc.). From 1835 Calvinist Voortrekkers left the Eastern Cape, undertaking treks into the interior with the intent to annex land. Due to their territorial, economic, religious and political efforts, they ultimately paved the way for the legendary Great Trek and the present Republic of South Africa. The zigzagging histories of the Voortrekker Monument and its marble frieze have never been properly researched. As a result of our intensive research in South African archives (over 3,000 scans of unpublished documents and photos), however, we are now able to untangle and tell these histories comprehensively.Now we can bring all strands together: the making of the Voortrekker Monument (1938-49), the design of its frieze(c. 1936-49) including the early drawing by the painter Coetzer (1937), the later models in clay and plaster made by four South African sculptors (1942-47), the transport of the original-sized plaster models to Florence (1947-49) and the copying of the plaster reliefs into marble in the Studio Romanelli (1947-50), as well as the rich documentary evidence and the close collaboration with institutions in South Africa. We conceive our book as a pioneering case study in which we will analyze the meandering complexities and surprises in the process of designing an ambitious visual narrative in marble, and we will read this in the different political, art- and cultural-historical contexts.

伊丽莎白·兰金教授(副。奥克兰大学艺术史教授)和我在2012年发起了从记忆到大理石的研究项目：Voortrekker纪念碑的浮雕。我们的目标是为艺术史和文化、历史和政治研究领域的学者写一本英文书。作为我们的图书项目的前奏，我们写了一篇文章，什么都不复印。Voortrekker纪念碑的古典理想和南非白人意识形态(约21,500字，38幅插图)。Voortrekker纪念碑的对称装饰艺术立方体高62米，俯瞰比勒陀利亚的山坡：建于1938年至1949年之间，是为了庆祝所谓的大冒险和血河战役(1838年12月16日)的百年纪念，在这场战役中，Boer Voortrekkers(拓荒者)虽然人数众多，但还是击败了祖鲁军队。这座建筑从一开始就有争议，是南非民族主义布尔意识形态和有害的种族隔离政治(1948-94)的主要纪念碑。这些建筑最令人惊讶的是由卡拉拉大理石制成的历史浮雕，高2.3米，总长92米，在英雄大厅内以眼睛的高度上演，这是一个30x30x30米的不间断空间。浮雕由27个独立的历史场景组成，涉及不同的跋涉(离开、宗教、前进、谈判、胜利、吞并土地、建筑工程、条约等)。从1835年开始，加尔文主义的Voortrekkers人离开东开普省，长途跋涉进入内陆，意图吞并土地。由于他们在领土、经济、宗教和政治上的努力，他们最终为传说中的大冒险和现在的南非共和国铺平了道路。Voortrekker纪念碑及其大理石浮雕的曲折历史从未得到过适当的研究。然而，由于我们对南非档案进行了深入的研究(对未发表的文件和照片进行了3000多次扫描)，我们现在能够全面地解开和讲述这些历史。现在我们可以把所有的线索结合在一起：Voortrekker纪念碑(1938-49)的制作，它的浮雕设计(约1936-1949)，包括画家库策(1937)的早期绘画，后来四位南非雕塑家用粘土和石膏制作的模型(1942-47)，将原始尺寸的石膏模型运送到佛罗伦萨(1947-1949)，在Romanelli工作室将石膏浮雕复制成大理石(1947-1950)，以及丰富的文献证据和与南非机构的密切合作。我们认为我们的书是一个开创性的案例研究，我们将分析在设计一个雄心勃勃的大理石视觉叙事的过程中曲折的复杂性和惊喜，我们将在不同的政治、艺术和文化历史背景下阅读这本书。