The Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (abbreviated LIMC) is a multivolume encyclopedia cataloguing representations of mythology in the plastic arts of classical antiquity.Pura Nieto Hernández, Mythology: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 45. Published serially from 1981 to 2009,LIMC-France. : database (Ancient objects) it is the most extensive resource of its kind,William Hansen, Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 344. providing "full and detailed information."Robin Hard, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology (Routledge, 2004), p. 691. Entries are arranged alphabetically, with black-and-white illustrations indexed to their respective entries.Hansen, Classical Mythology, p. 344 There is also an online database pertaining to the LIMC maintained at weblimc.org, called the Digital LIMC.
The LIMC was prepared by international scholars from nearly 40 countriesBoyd Collins et al., Building a Scholarly Communications Center: Modeling the Rutgers Experience (American Library Association, 1999), p. 73. who contributed in their language of choice, resulting in entries written variously in English, German, French, or Italian.Hansen, Classical Mythology, p. 344. The LIMC also offers a multilingual online database that is updated independently of the print publication."Presentation of the databases," LIMC
In 1987, Brunilde Ridgway wrote that though the initial volume was met with "understandable caution", due to the enormity of the task being embarked upon, after the publication of its second volume, "no reservations should remain".Ridgway, Review of "Lexikon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) II. (Aphrodisias-Athena)", American Journal of Archaeology, 91:150–151, 1987. In the 21st century, the LIMC has been called an "indispensable research instrument,"Hernandez, Mythology, p. 45. "monumental,"Hansen, Classical Mythology, p. 14. and "magnificent."Hard, Routledge Handbook, p. 691.
In the United States, the LIMC is based at the Alexander Library of Rutgers University.Collins et al., Building a Scholarly Communications Center, p. 73.
Volumes Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), Artemis & Winkler Verlag (Zürich, München, Düsseldorf), 1981–1999 Vol. I: Aara – Aphlad (1981) Vol. II: Aphrodisias – Athena (1984) Vol. III: Atherion – Eros / Amor, Cupido (1986) Vol. IV: Eros (in Etruria) – Herakles (1988) Vol. V: Herakles – Kenchrias (1990) Vol. VI: Kentauroi et Kentaurides – Oiax (1992) Vol. VII: Oidipous – Theseus (1994) Vol. VIII: Thespiades – Zodiacus et Supplementum (1997) Indices 1. Museums, Collections, Sites (1999) 2. Literary and Epigraphical Sources mentioning lost Works. Mythological Names (1999)
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae. Supplementum 2009 (LIMC), Artemis Verlag (Düsseldorf), 2009.
References
External links Volumes of the LIMC at the Internet Archive Fondation pour le Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) Digital LIMC LIMC-France