BMC Krater Model by BMCexhibition on Sketchfab
Kraters are large vessels which were used to mix water and wine at ancient symposia, events themselves defined by an excess of food and wine. This Red-Figure Apulian Krater from Italy has been dated to 350 BCE and has been attributed to the Greek "Painter of Boston 76.65" who was an associate of the famous Lycurgus Painter. Although made by a Greek artisan (or at least in an imitation of the Greek style), this object was certainly created for a native Italic (Apulian) audience. Many similar vessels have been discovered by archaeologists in tombs from ancient Italy and kraters such as this would have been used during the life of the owner, then deposited upon their death as part of a funerary dining assemblage. 

At first glance, this krater is very out of place in an exhibition on fragmentary excess. However, it is indeed fragmentary in more ways than one. On a visual level, the decoration of the krater is fragmented. Examination by Bryn Mawr Archaeology graduate student Andrea Samz-Pustol revealed that the satyr and Dionysus lack genitalia. However, they were not simply omitted from the painting, but actively removed many centuries after its creation. Likely occurring during the Victorian Period, the then-owners scratched off the painted genitalia and the effected areas were shellacked over to restore the look of the original, smooth surface. Thus, these represented bodies are indeed fragmented, but in ways that testify to cultural and historical trends with regard to the reception of the ancient world. 

Upon inspection of the krater, the conservator of Special Collections at Bryn Mawr College determined that as the vessel could not stand on its own and was therefore unfit to be exhibited. This is an ever-increasing problem for those who study antiquity. Due to age and sometimes-poor conservation practice, access to the world's antiquities is becoming increasingly limited. Much of antiquity, including this krater, is in the process of becoming lost, and scholars of the ancient world must face this lacunae in the historical record. The graduate student curatorial committee thus felt it was important to include the krater in some way. Three-dimensional modeling emerged as the obvious solution; all of the models included in this digital exhibition work towards the democratization of knowledge and in an effort to prevent further loss of the historical record.