|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
Greek Gold The exhibition puts on display articles of Greek jewelry dating from the 6th - 2nd centuries B.C. coming from the collection of the State Hermitage. In addition to 101 display items made of gold, the show also includes other things which help to develop the theme more fully. These are 3 casting moulds, a bronze mirror with gilting, 8 vases, and 2 silver bowls. The exhibition gives the visitor an idea how the various decorative items were made, how diverse they were, and how fashions in jewelry changed over the course of nearly five centuries. As a whole the exhibition reflects the character and make-up of the Hermitage collection and demonstrates the importance of this collection for the study of the jeweler's art in antiquity. The large collection of gold decorations from antiquity in the Hermitage can be divided into two nearly equal parts. One consists of purchases, donations, and items from private collections which entered the Hermitage collection at various times. The other, which contains famous masterpieces of the ancient art of jewelry making, comes from archeological finds made during excavations of burial mounds and necropolises just outside Greek cities on the Black Sea Northern Littoral. The present exhibition draws upon both parts of the collection. The discovery of the Kul-Oba burial mound (kurgan) near Kerch in 1830 awakened the interest of Russia's educated public in the area of the northern shore of the Black Sea during ancient times. The formerly unknown examples of chased metal objects and of the jeweler's art found there entered the Hermitage. The efforts of several generations of Russian archeologists led to the creation of an archeological collection that is exceptional in its diversity and wealth, and which must be referred to by anyone studying the culture of Greek cities along the Black Sea Northern Littoral, and ancient art in general. The first Greek settlements appeared along the Black Sea Northern Littoral at the end of the 7th and beginning of the 6th century B.C., and already in the 6th century B.C. flourishing cities emerged. Cities on the shores of what is today the Straits of Kerch joined together in the 5th century B.C. to form a Bosporan Kingdom around Pantikapei. Its ruins are just outside the modern city of Kerch. On the Bosporus a unique culture developed. It was fundamentally classical but drew upon elements of local culture as well. We may take as a concrete example of this synthesis a golden grivna from the 4th century B.C. found in Kul-Oba. This is decorated with the figures of two horsemen. In barbarian societies the grivna was a distinctive sign of authority and was worn by representatives of the highest nobility. The grivna of Kul-Oba was made in a Greek atelier. Among the masterpieces of the jeweler's art displayed in the exhibition there are earrings dating from the 4th century B.C. that come from Kul-Oba. Decorated with very fine beading and filigree, and with two figures representing the goddess Nike, they are an example of miniaturist work. In the whole world there are only 14 known pairs and single earrings of this so-called ‘luxurious style' and seven of them are kept in the Hermitage. The items found on the northern Black Sea coast make it possible to trace the basic directions in which the art of Greek jewelry-making developed. Thus we see that in early works the basis for the decoration was a smooth surface whose brilliance was set off by matte beading. In the classical period the favorite method of decorating items of jewelry was an expressive drawing of filigree ornamentation in combination with fine beading. To this was added modest patches of non-shiny enamel. A remarkable example of this style is the necklace found in the Bolshaya Bliznitsa burial mound in Taman. During the age of Hellenism, following the campaigns of Alexander of Macedon, a new style arose in jewelry which was facilitated by the familiarity of the Greeks with the tastes of the Orient. Its main distinguishing feature is polychrome. Articles were generously decorated with colored stones. Often these were variegated compositions of stones, enamel, and glass in which the gold plays a subordinate role. This tendency continued in the art of the Roman period. The exhibition items demonstrate the wealth and diversity of the Hermitage collections and serve as a special invitation to visit the museum. |
|
|||||
|
Copyright © 2011 State Hermitage Museum |
