81. Sculptural Guts: Statues and their Insides

This panel considers the practice of placing objects of various sorts within the hollow interiors of statues. The phenomenon is widespread, occurring in different cultures at different times across the globe. Buddhist sculpture, for example, might contain anything from representations of interior organs through to books, relics or smaller images. A similar range of objects has been found inside Christian statues of Christ and other holy figures. We are interested in any examples of this phenomenon from any cultural context with the intention of exploring its occurrence from a comparative perspective. Papers reporting new discoveries of such material and novel technical approaches to recording it are encouraged. Approaches that consider not just the interior material itself but also any ritual activities, for example, that might accompany the insertion or removal of objects from statues, are particularly welcome. Equally, conceptual or methodological reflections on the significance of such interior deposits would be of interest. We are also open to papers that consider the imagined or implied interiors of statues, even where no actual cavity containing objects exists.

Questions that papers might consider could include:
– What kind of connections – if any – exist between exterior appearance and interior contents?
– What relationships exists between the actual interiors of the human body and the manufactured interiors of statues?
– How do audiences relate to objects within statues, especially where these are normally hidden from view?
– Are there common typological elements to the practice across different cultural contexts?
– What motivations govern the deposition of objects inside statues?

Themes:  sculpture, interiority, global

Additional format comment: Either 4 papers or longer introduction by convenors and 3 papers.

Lead Convenor: Peter Dent, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

Co-convenors: Benedetta Lomi, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

To submit a Paper to this Session, please follow the guidance on our website and complete the AAH 2027 Call for Papers Proposal Submission Form.