PROJECTS OF THE IUA

The LIMC, an international project in the framework of which 40 countries are collaborating, intends to clarify the present state of knowledge of the iconography of the Greek, Roman, Etruscan and 'peripheral' mythologies for the period between the Mycenaean time and the beginning of the ancient Christian world. It meets a very real need because, at present, no general work exists which would deal with the iconography of the classical mythology and would provide descriptive documentation and an approach meeting the requirements of modern science. There are older publications such as W. Roscher's Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie which dates from the end of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century, and remains an indispensable instrument as far as the texts are concerned, but is completely obsolete with regard to its entire iconographic part. In fact, the LIMC has to utilize the vast documentation dispersed in the museums and sites in the world, which has been accumulated as a result of the archaeological discoveries over the past 80 years, and analyse them methodically. A project of this magnitude implies, as a basis, the collection of a considerable wealth of documentation in which the research workers of all participating countries collaborate. These researchers are, at the same time, often the authors of the articles produced in the framework of LIMC. Particular attention is paid to the fate of Greek and Roman images in the Hellenized and Romanized countries and to the divinities and heroes of adjacent countries. The publication of the eight volumes finished in 1999.

The ThesCRA (Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum)  aims to document the elements of classical antiquity concerning religious rituals and to make them accessible for research and to a wider public. At present there is no work of reference of this kind with systematic information on the cults and rites of classical antiquity. The ThesCRA will equally cover the iconographic representations of cults and rites, the texts concerning them and their realia. Images, monuments and texts shall have the same status. The ThesCRA should serve as an instrument to present the current state of research including the unsolved problems.

An international research foundation and the editorial office of the central secretariat have been established in Basle since 1973.

The project was adopted by the UAI in Category C in 1973 on the initiative of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. The Foundation is governed by a Council ; there is an international academic advisory committee, and an editorial committee ; the President is elected for a term of four years (in sequence, O. Reverdin 1973-1981; N. Yalouris 1981-1985 ; J. Pouilloux 1985-1991; G. Camporeale 1991-1995, Vassilis Lambrinoudakis 1995- ) ; there is also a General Secretary : L. Kahil 1973-1997, Prof. Jean Ch. Balty 1997-

Website of the project : www.limc.ch