Released: February 11, 2011

Lincoln, Neb. - The Lincoln-Omaha Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) announces the fourth lecture on archaeology for the 2010-2011 season. Professor Greg Bucher, from Creighton University, will be presenting "Three Mysterious Portraits from Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum" on Monday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 pm in room 15 of Richards Hall, UNL Campus, Stadium Drive and T street.

Greg Bucher with Joslyn Art Museum and Roman portraits
Greg Bucher (center) will lecture on Roman portraits from the Joslyn collection.

The Joslyn Art Museum is well known as a significant repository of paintings and sculpture from all periods. Included in the Museum's fine collection are ancient antiquities that have long been admired by scholars and connoisseurs. But several of the most interesting objects reside within the vaults of the Museum, rarely placed on public view. But several unpublished antiquities have recently been brought into the light including three significant Roman portraits, two of men and one of a woman, that span the period from the first century B.C. to the third century A.D. Each portrait presents a particular challenge to the scholar trying to identify it, and taken as a group they offer a fine sample of the chief styles of Roman imperial portraiture. Professor Bucher's talk demonstrates the detective work often required of the archaeologist to put Roman names to stone faces.

Greg Bucher is Associate Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies at Creighton University, where he conducts research in Roman historiography. He is currently at work on publishing the Joslyn portraits, as well as longer-term projects on Roman funerary epigrams and on the Civil War of Julius Caesar. Dr. Bucher has just completed a three-year term as Director of the Classical Summer School of the American Academy in Rome, and is now the Professor-in-Charge of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome (2011-2012). His Ph.D. is in Classics from Brown University.

Future AIA lectures:
  • March 27 - Lanny Bell, Brown University
    Sun., 2:00 PM - Tutankhamun: The Life and Death of a God King
    Abbott Lecture Hall, Joslyn Art Museum, 2201 Dodge Street, Omaha
  • May 1 - John Younger, University of Kansas
    Sun., 2:00 PM - Building the Parthenon
    Abbott Lecture Hall, Joslyn Art Museum, 2201 Dodge Street, Omaha