Abstract

With the rise of interest in ancient Mesopotamia in the nineteenth century, the lamassu, the human-headed winged bull that guarded many Assyrian palace entrances, occupied a unique position in the popular imagination. As a signifier of an ancient civilization that was being revealed to European audiences for the first time, the lamassu embodied multiple discourses of fragmentation with respect to vision, representation, and historical narrativity. This article traces the representation and reception of the lamassu in nineteenth-century France, beginning with the campaign of Paul-Émile Botta in the early 1840s and the subsequent publication of the five-volume Monument de Ninive (1849–50), illustrated by Eugène Flandin. Many of Botta’s discoveries were mounted within the Louvre’s Musée assyrien, inaugurated less than a year before the revolutionary upheavals of 1848. The historical linkages between ancient Assyria and nineteenth-century France were not lost on many contemporaneous commentators, particularly after the archaeological campaigns were resumed by Victor Place in the 1850s. Place’s work culminated in the disastrous loss of a lamassu during a tribal raid on the Tigris River, and his subsequent publication, Ninive et l’Assyrie (1867–70), presents a self-conscious awareness of the limits of objectivity in the construction of history. Ultimately, it is argued that as a monumental yet mobile guardian of space and of history, the lamassu allegorizes the fragmented nature of historical vision in nineteenth-century France. Looking back to an era wracked by repeated revolutionary upheaval, the lamassu reads as a pointed and urgent warning against hubris.

摘要

随着19世纪对古代美索不达米亚的兴趣上升，守护着许多亚述宫殿入口的人头有翼公牛lamassu在大众的想象中占据了独特的位置。作为第一次向欧洲观众展示的古老文明的象征，拉玛苏在视觉，表现和历史叙事方面体现了多种支离破碎的话语。本文追溯了19世纪法国lamassu的代表和接受情况，始于1840年代初期的Paul- ÉmileBotta战役，以及随后出版的五卷纪念德尼尼维纪念碑（Nuive Monument of Ninive）（1849–50），由欧仁·弗兰丁（EugèneFlandin）举例说明。博塔的许多发现都聚集在卢浮宫的阿塞拜疆博物馆中，该博物馆成立于不到1848年的革命动荡之前不到一年。古​​亚述与19世纪法国之间的历史联系并未在许多同时代的评论家中失去，尤其是在恢复考古战役之后在1850年代由Victor Place设计。Place的工作最终导致在底格里斯河上发生部落突袭期间lamassu的灾难性损失，他随后的出版物Ninive et l'Assyrie（1867–70）提出了一种自我意识的认识，认识到建构主义的客观性局限性历史。最终，有人说，作为空间和历史的纪念性但可移动的守护者，拉马苏寓言了19世纪法国历史视野的零散本质。回首过去的革命动荡不断的时代，拉玛苏读为针对狂妄自大的尖锐而紧急的警告。