How an American artist captured the lost grandeur of Persepolis
Explore the intersection of art and archaeology through the paintings of Joseph Lindon Smith. This lecture examines how Smith’s vivid landscapes and realistic reliefs documented the Achaemenid ruins during the OI's pioneering 1930s expeditions.
Between 1931 and 1939, the OI Iranian expedition conducted the first scientifically controlled excavations at Persepolis, the great city founded by Darius I (533–486 BC) and later sacked by Alexander III of Macedon in 330 BC. To document these findings, OI director James Henry Breasted invited artist Joseph Lindon Smith (1863–1950) to the site.
Smith’s work provided a unique visual record, ranging from starkly realistic portraits of the Apadana reliefs to vibrant, polychrome landscapes of the monumental terrace. Curator Kiersten Neumann places Smith’s paintings within a broader history of recording the city's ruins, alongside the expedition's use of early film, photography, and aerial imagery.
Source: Kiersten Neumann I Documenting Persepolis and the Paintings of Joseph Lindon Smith
