The making, breaking, reversing, and restoring of Oxford’s statues of the Muses

John Rolfe and Andrew Dunning

The statues of the nine Muses on top of the Clarendon Building on Broad Street in Oxford can be considered the crown on top of the architectural façade of the University – a crown that suffered losses, partial restoration in the 1930s and ‘incorrect’ restoration in the 1970s.

Now the Muses are being restored again. Drawing on materials from the special collections of the Weston Library,  John Rolfe and Dr Andrew Dunning will present evidence used to inform the latest restoration. This restoration will, as far as possible, return Oxford’s Muses to the arrangement of their original appearance in 1717.
John Rolfe is an art historian and advisor on the restoration on the statues of the Muses on the Clarendon Building. Dr Andrew Dunning is R.W. Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts, and Supernumerary Fellow in Book History, Jesus College.

* After the lecture, there will be the opportunity to join John on a short walk around the Clarendon Building for further discussion on the statues, and musings on why they were placed in their positions within the cityscape.
Entrance is free