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Egypt on the Prairie
Feb. 3rd, 2003 11:54 pmThe Eternal Egypt exhibition at the MIA was amazing. Too crowded to enjoy things as much as we would have liked, but still, utterly amazing. We both would have liked a chance to just sit in some of the rooms and admire, but with so many people it was impossible. A weekday might have been less crowded, but hey, free tickets to THIS (courtesy his parents' membership), who's going to complain?
Third item from the end, Peter noticed what's probably just a typo- an AD when it should have been BC. (Roman period; his focus in college was Roman history, about which he's still obsessed.) Still, we had a giggle!
We both loved the lion; the pose is unusual, and the level of detail is amazing. (This image does not do it justice.) Many, many carvings, in various mediums, with awesome detail. This statue of Meryrahashtef is the only example on the site; in person, you can see the details of muscle under the skin, the detail of the shoulder blades. I had no idea they were making representations of the human body that were this accurate, over 4,000 years ago.
There was a room dedicated to Papyri, including some sections from the Papyrus of Ani, probably the most famous existing copy of the Book of the Dead.
I've been fascinated by this panel portrait since I first saw it in the Oxford Egypt that Peter gave me for Christmas. I had no idea it was part of the exhibition; it's the final piece you see. (Again, the image doesn't do it justice.)
Some of these things, it's all you can do not to reach out and touch them.
Some cool info about the exhibition:
MIA's Eternal Egypt information
Putting together "Eternal Egypt", from the British Museum site
The British Museum's Introduction to the exhibit
While checking the MIA's site for more details, I discovered thet they have two related exhibitions going. One of late 19th C. photographs of Egypt, and one of early 19th C. watercolors and lithographs of Egypt. We'll be making another trip to the MIA in the near future! (Free museum admission on Sundays, thanks to Ford Motor Company. Yes, I'm plugging them by name because this is one of the truly good things corporations can do for the public in general. Supporting the arts is great; supporting the ability of more people to experience said arts is great.)
The Prairie part of the title:
This evening while checking the paper, I found a link to a new, off-site museum operated by the MIA. Unified Vision: The Architecture and Design of the Prairie School. It's a complete house & garden, the site is loaded with pictures and info. Gorgeous pictures.
Third item from the end, Peter noticed what's probably just a typo- an AD when it should have been BC. (Roman period; his focus in college was Roman history, about which he's still obsessed.) Still, we had a giggle!
We both loved the lion; the pose is unusual, and the level of detail is amazing. (This image does not do it justice.) Many, many carvings, in various mediums, with awesome detail. This statue of Meryrahashtef is the only example on the site; in person, you can see the details of muscle under the skin, the detail of the shoulder blades. I had no idea they were making representations of the human body that were this accurate, over 4,000 years ago.
There was a room dedicated to Papyri, including some sections from the Papyrus of Ani, probably the most famous existing copy of the Book of the Dead.
I've been fascinated by this panel portrait since I first saw it in the Oxford Egypt that Peter gave me for Christmas. I had no idea it was part of the exhibition; it's the final piece you see. (Again, the image doesn't do it justice.)
Some of these things, it's all you can do not to reach out and touch them.
Some cool info about the exhibition:
MIA's Eternal Egypt information
Putting together "Eternal Egypt", from the British Museum site
The British Museum's Introduction to the exhibit
While checking the MIA's site for more details, I discovered thet they have two related exhibitions going. One of late 19th C. photographs of Egypt, and one of early 19th C. watercolors and lithographs of Egypt. We'll be making another trip to the MIA in the near future! (Free museum admission on Sundays, thanks to Ford Motor Company. Yes, I'm plugging them by name because this is one of the truly good things corporations can do for the public in general. Supporting the arts is great; supporting the ability of more people to experience said arts is great.)
The Prairie part of the title:
This evening while checking the paper, I found a link to a new, off-site museum operated by the MIA. Unified Vision: The Architecture and Design of the Prairie School. It's a complete house & garden, the site is loaded with pictures and info. Gorgeous pictures.
