The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece

Microsoft Word - The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece_Media infoFeaturing more than 100 treasures from the British Museum’s world famous Greek and Roman collection, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece is a visually stunning and thought-provoking exploration of the human form seen through Ancient Greek eyes.

Over two millennia, the ancient Greeks experimented with the representation of the human body in works that range from abstract simplicity to the realism of the age of Alexander the Great. By exploring ideas of representation, this international touring exhibition shares with new audiences artworks that have shaped the way that we think about and look at ourselves.

The portrayal of human character is explained, along with sexual and social identity. In athletics the male body was displayed as if it were a living sculpture, and victors were commemorated by actual statues.

In art, not only were mortal men and women represented, but also the gods and other beings of myth and the supernatural world. They were either conceived in the image of humankind or in monstrous combinations of human and animal form.

“We are thrilled to be presenting this exciting exhibition in collaboration with the British Museum; especially to be the exclusive Australian venue,” says Bendigo Art Gallery Director, Karen Quinlan.

“The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece will give audiences the rare opportunity to see over 100 historical works including the impressive Discobolus; an iconic marble statue of a discus thrower from the second century AD.”

The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece includes a 1:200 scale model reproduction of Olympia and its many buildings as it would have looked around 100 BC. Included are many highlights of the British Museum’s collection which had never been loaned before this tour: the Discobolus – a marble Roman copy of the famous sculpture made by Myron in 5th century BC, Bronze figure of Jupiter, 1st–2nd century AD; Marble head from a colossal statue of Hercules, AD 117–118; and the Marble statue of Socrates, 200 BC–AD 100.

Spread across eight galleries, subject areas explored include the male body beautiful, Aphrodite and the female body, Herakles: superman, Athletes, the human face, and the representation of human experiences such as sex and desire, birth, marriage and death.

“I am delighted that the British Museum can share with Bendigo and the people of Victoria such star objects from its collection as the famous sculpture of a discus thrower,” says Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor. “Before its world tour this – and indeed many others in the exhibition – have never been seen outside the UK.”

The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece is curated by Dr Ian Jenkins who is responsible for the ancient Greek collection in the British Museum and is a world authority on Greek architecture, sculpture and ancient Greek social history. He worked on this project with assistant curator Victoria Turner, with whom he recently published The Greek Body (British Museum Press, 2009).

The British Museum, London is one of the oldest and most celebrated museums in the world with a collection of more than seven million objects exploring human history and culture from its beginnings to the present. This is the first time the British Museum has toured an exhibition to a regional Australian venue.

The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece
Bendigo Art Gallery, 42 View Street, Bendigo
Exhibition: 2 August – 9 November 2014
Entry fees apply

For more information, visit: www.bendigoartgallery.com.au for details.

Image: Marble sphinx, from Monte Cagnolo outside Laruium, near Rome, Italy. Roman c. AD 120–140. © The Trustees of the British Museum