Charles Rhyne collection on the Ara Pacis

Collection

Identifier: RhyneAraPacis-RSCA-ORPR-US

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists primarily photocopies of articles, parts of books, conference proceedings, and printouts from the web about the Ara Pacis. They range from 1872 through 2012. A great many of the papers are covered with notes in Rhyne’s handwriting. They show his research methods and thought progression about the many areas of interest to him surrounding this monument, including its history, conservation, alterations, housing, interpretations, and the politics involved with the current museum designed by Richard Meier in which the altar lives. A few other files deal with associated bodies such as archives and scholars on this topic.

Dates

Creation: 1872 - 2012

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Rhyne, Reed art professor from 1960 to 1997, created a website about the Ara Pacis Augustae, the altar to peace, a carved stone monument situated in the Field of Mars in Rome. The website boasts numerous photographs of the Ara Pacis taken by Rhyne and a large bibliography of scholarship about it.

Since Professor Rhyne’s death in 2013, the website has been taken on by Reed College. These papers are the supporting documentation for the massive annotated bibliography associated with the Ara Pacis website. Professor Rhyne’s more personal papers reside in a separate collection as the Charles Rhyne papers.

Extent

6.5 Linear Feet (13 manuscript boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Professor Charles Rhyne (art professor 1960-1997) created the definitive website on the Ara Pacis Augustae, the Roman monument commissioned by the Roman senate in 13 B.C. to honor the return of Augustus to Rome. Opened in 9 B.C., the carved stone altar to Pax, the goddess of Peace, has been restored and conserved over the centuries, and Rhyne was particularly interested in these changes. The files contain his annotated research materials, clippings, and correspondence about this monument and its museum by Richard Meier and Associates that supported the website.