A New Paradigm for the Evaluation of Cultural Heritage Objects: The Process of Attributing Value and Significance to Diana Mantua's Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery
Date
2022-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Assigning significance or value to cultural heritage is a crucial process within
institutions to inform decision-making processes for allocating resources towards
collections care and management. The field of cultural heritage economics adapts
traditional economic theories of monetary value to define some aspects of significance
in cultural heritage objects. However, because cultural heritage has both tangible
significance, referring to physical aspects of the object, and intangible significance,
referring to the significance of cultural uses and associations, economic methods of
valuation alone are insufficient. Using the United Kingdom’s Department for Digital,
Culture, Media, and Sport’s (DCMS) “Valuing cultural heritage and capital: a
framework towards informing decision making” and the Collections Council of
Australia’s Significance 2.0 as theoretical frameworks, this paper develops a new
paradigm for the evaluation of material culture. The paradigm evaluates a cultural
heritage object by assessing its value in creation, value in purpose, value in existence,
and value in memory. To test the effectiveness of this paradigm, it was used to
evaluate Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (1575) by Italian Renaissance
reproductive printmaker Diana Mantua (1547-1612). Diana was chosen as a test
subject to challenge the paradigm, given the relatively limited scholarship surrounding
early female professional artists. Results of this assessment were discussed using an
autoethnographic approach to reflecting on the process of evaluation. While time-consuming and subject to constraints based on access and resource availability, the paradigm seemingly proved effective for collating information on heritage objects from marginalized groups and producing a clear line of reasoning for their significance. Ultimately, the development of a qualitative argument for the significance of a cultural heritage object through analysis of its tangible and intangible
qualities yields the most useful comprehension of its value.
Description
Keywords
Cultural heritage, Material culture, Diana Mantua, Collections care and management