Artwork of the Month - March 2015

A Study of a Group of Finds from Guernsey

Artist: By Frederick Corbin Lukis (1788-1871) (attr. to)

Medium: Watercolour on paper

Status: permanent collection GMAG 3804

Visual representation of archaeological data through illustrations and drawings has always played an important part in the study of the past. The Italian Renaissance flourished with the help of scholars who drew the statues and buildings of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Victorian scholars also produced many fine archaeological drawings. Their thirst for discovery and knowledge gave rise to a more modern breed of archaeologist such as Frederick Corbin Lukis (1788-1871), who began to study the ancient world using more rigorous scientific methods.

This drawing depicts a mixture of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age artefacts from various dolmens in Guernsey which were most likely excavated and drawn by F C Lukis himself.

Twenty-first century archaeologists can now use photography and computer-based drawing tools to record their finds but technical illustration still plays an important part in archaeological studies.