What can the loss of the head, a detached limb, or even a gunshot wound reveal to us about a sculpture that an intact sculpture cannot? This is a key question raised by “Broken: The Power of the Fragment,” an exhibition being held at Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi and will subsequently travel to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, in 2027. “Broken” is an exhibition comprising over 80 works and fragments, exploring reasons behind the damage and destruction of sculptures as well as the creation of sculptural fragments.
According to The Guardian’s review of the exhibition in Florence, a case study in this respect involves a limestone fragment of a sculpture showing the nose and lips of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten. Only part of the face is preserved, but what makes the existing parts of the face more conspicuous are the missing parts.
