Antiquarium
Limited access to the Greek mainland, and thus inscriptional material, meant that traditional scholarly interests were largely preoccupied with Latin epigraphy. The publication in 1762 of Stuart and Revett’s Antiquities of Athens, Measured and Delineated changed that.
Interspersed with recordings of Greek inscriptions, the meticulously drawn plans of Attic monuments inspired an increasing number of British grand tourists to visit Greece. One of the most interesting was Edward Dodwell, who first arrived in the country in 1801. Trained as an architect, Dodwell and his Italian assistant Simone Pomardi produced over 1000 drawings and watercolours of monuments, landscapes, and artefacts, as well as vignettes of contemporary Turkish and Greek life.
Dodwell was a prolific and enthusiastic antiquarian. His residency in Rome and the journeys he made to Greece enabled him to assemble a large collection of antiquities, which included a head from the west pediment of the Parthenon, the famous 6th century pyxis now known as the Dodwell Vase, and a number of Greek and Latin inscriptions.