Amalie Skovmøller

Primary fields of research

I work with marble sculptures from Antiquity and until today. I am specialized in the consumption and pruposes of portraits and sculptures during the late Roman Republic and Imperial periods. I am particularly interested in how sculptures are experinced; within a physical context as well as culturally constructed, as social agents, and the manipulation with and technical exploitation of the materials used (especially marble) to produce sculptures. I am engaged with theories of materiality, colours and light (the senation of colours and textured surfaces) -especially in regards to how certain atmospheres are constructed and experienced- in ancient as well as more recent contexts,

Current research

I am associated with the research project "Powerful Presences -the Sculptural Portrait between Presence and Absence, Individual and Mass" hosted by the University of Copenhagen and the Thorvaldsen Museum, sponsoret by the Velux foundation and led by Jane Fejfer and Kristine Bøggild Johannsen.  In this period my focus will expecially be on the experince and interactions between humans and bust portraits, as well as sculpture more generally, from Antiquity to the age of Thorvaldsen (the 18th and 19th centuries). I will focus on Thorvaldsen's use of marble, his "final touch", as essential to the creation and reception of his bustportraits. I will explore 18th and 19th centuries discussions of sculpture, surfaces finishes and colours, and investigate the practices of Thorvaldsen's workshops; The processes of shaping the marble sculptures, as well as how the workshops functioned as a space for experiments with particularly surfaces, light and polychrome effects and textures.