Google
 
Web www.iatwm.com


In This Issue

Subscribe

Advertisers

The Louvre comes to Georgia

Louvre and the Ancient World:
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
October 16, 2007– September 7, 2008

The Tiber
Title: The Tiber, ca. AD 100
Unknown Artist
Medium: Marble
Permanent Collection: Musee du Louvre.
Photo: Peter Harholdt by permission of the Musee du Louvre,
Paris/High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Image Courtesy: High Museum of Art, Atlanta

The Louvre is coming to Georgia. The French National Museum has formed a partnership with the High Museum of Atlanta, creating a temporary partnership called the Atlanta Louvre. Three exhibits are scheduled to celebrate this collaboration, first focusing on the birth of archaeology and the concurrent creation of the Louvre’s Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Egyptian and Near Eastern collections.

Statue of Ouahibre, Governor of Upper Egypt, Egyptian, Late Period
Title: Statue of Ouahibre, Governor of Upper Egypt, Egyptian, Late Period, Late Period (715-332 BC)
Medium: Diorite
Permanent Collection: Musee du Louvre.
Photo: Peter Harholdt by permission of the Musee du Louvre,
Paris/High Museum of Art, Atlanta.
Image Courtesy: High Museum of Art, Atlanta

The Louvre and the Ancient World is planned as the central exhibit and features masterpieces from the founding cultures of Western civilization with over 70 works from the Louvre’s unparalleled Egyptian, Near Eastern and Greco-Roman antiquities collections. Take the opportunity to enjoy works dating from the third millennium BC through the third century AD.

One theme: to explore the origins of the Louvre, specifically its collections of antiquities, thanks to Napoleon.  Also the discoveries and decipherment of hieroglyphics and cuneiform and the Louvre’s leading role in excavating the cradle of civilization at the end of the nineteenth century and during the 20th century. The oldest works in the exhibition are drawn from the ancient cultures of Egypt, Susa (in modern Iran), the Neo-Sumerian city of Tello (in modern Iraq) and the Canaanite city of Ugarit (in modern Syria).

“Our partnership with the Louvre will provide the people of the Southeast with an unprecedented opportunity to see Near Eastern, Egyptian, Greek and Roman masterpieces from one of the greatest collections of antiquities in the world. It will also bring moving portraits of historic figures from America and France—including Washington, Franklin and Voltaire—created by one of France’s greatest artists,” noted Michael E. Shapiro, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green Jr., Director of the High Museum of Art. “The up-close and intimate experience of these treasures is certain to excite and delight visitors of all ages throughout the coming year.”

Figure of Mercury
Title: Figure of Mercury, before AD 79
Medium: Bronze
Permanent Collection: Musee du Louvre.
Peter Harholdt by permission of the Musee du Louvre,
Paris/High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Image Courtesy: High Museum of Art, Atlanta


Apollo
Title: Apollo, AD 62-79,
Medium: Mural Fragment
Permanent Collection: Musee du Louvre.
Photo: Peter Harholdt by permission of the Musee du Louvre, Paris/High Museum of Art Atlanta
Image Courtesy: High Museum of Art, Atlanta

Some of the pieces reflect ancient mythology. Apollo was the god of medicine, archers, prophecy and also the god of musical and artistic inspiration. He and his twin Artemis were the children of Zeus and Leto. Apollo took over the Oracle in Delphi, fulfilling his role as the God of Prophecy. Calliope was among his lovers.


The muse of music, Calliope was the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. She was Homer's muse and inspired him as he completed The Iliad and The Odyssey. Just a hint of the treasures that will cross the Atlantic and be on display at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Calliope, Muse of Poetry,
Title: Calliope, Muse of Poetry,, AD 62-79
Medium: Mural
Permanent Collection: Musee du Louvre.
Photo: Peter Harholdt by permission of the Musee du Louvre,
Paris/High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Image Courtesy: High Museum of Art, Atlanta

The second joint exhibit is The Eye of Josephine that is on display concurrently with Ancient World. The third collaboration is scheduled for June 2008 as the High Museum of Art plans to celebrate Jean-Antoine Houdon, an artist associated with the French Enlightenment whose portraiture depicted some of the prominent intellectual and political figures of the time.


Louvre and the Ancient World:
High Museum of Art, Atlanta:
October 16, 2007– September 7, 2008

High Museum of Art, Atlanta

www.high.org

© 2007 International Art Treasures Web Magazine, All Rights Reserved.