January 1, 2005
Alexander excavation finds in Manhattan
NY Times article on:
"Alexander the Great: Treasures From an Epic Era of Hellenism," an exhibition at the Onassis Cultural Center in the Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Avenue, at 51st Street, through April 16.All impressive stuff (I recall visiting the museum in Thessaloniki where much of the Vergina finds were on display; I was particularly struck by some of the swords, partially reduced to rusty lumps but amazingly still retaining sections in original form and high polish); nonetheless, the review uncritical effusion over Alexander is a bit hard to take.The discoveries include a magnificent third-century-B.C. marble portrait bust of Alexander, a fourth-century-B.C. solid silver drinking cup, an alabaster perfume vial as modern-looking as any by Armani, royal bronze armor and weapons, a panoply of gold jewelry, ivory, wall paintings from tombs and ancient coins.
Posted by David on January 1, 2005 12:27 PM
My guess would be that the effusive and uncritical (I assume you also mean that in the sense of un-analytical) statements are a way of "selling" the exhibit. We have quite a bit of that in Los Angeles exhibits which travel here from other places, not so much with resident exhibits. I remember the King Tutankhamen show; I thought if I heard/read one more supposedly titillating bit about the curse of the tomb, I was going to commit a bit of cursing myself. Maybe just describe the miscreant's heritage and probable end habitation.
Still, though, to be fair, these exhibits have to attract the great unwashed as well as the patrician educated elite (money, you know), and a bit of fluff doesn't change the magnificence and the antiquity of the pieces on display. So I say to the airheads, may the winds blow softly....
Posted by: Rhubarb on January 1, 2005 7:20 PM
That's very close to my office. I'm gonna have to go check that out...
Posted by: ccs178 (Chris) on January 3, 2005 1:02 PM
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