Antikensammlung Berlin
Encyclopedia
The Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin antiquities
collection) is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum
and Pergamon Museum
in Berlin
, Germany
. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological artefacts from the ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Cypriot civilizations. Its main attraction is the Pergamon Altar
and Greek and Roman architectural elements from Priene
, Magnesia
, Baalbek
and Falerii
. In addition, the collection includes a large number of ancient sculptures, vases, terracottas, bronzes, sarcophagi, engraved gems and metalwork.
Elector
Friedrich Wilhelm I
by ancient sculptures looted
in 1656 from the Villa Regia Palace
in Warsaw
. The obtained sculptures were purchased in Italy
by Polish kings Sigismund III Vasa
and Władysław IV Vasa
. This core of the collection, originally housed at the Berlin City Castle, was enlarged through acquisitions, including (among others) the acquisition of the collection of Gerrit Reynst
in 1671. Acquisitions continued in 1698 when Friedrich III
bought the important collection belonging to the Roman archaeologist Giovanni Pietro Bellori. After a longer interval, in which Friedrich Wilhelm I
exchanged, among other things, 36 valuable statues for two dragoon regiments with Augustus II the Strong
, followed in 1742 by Friedrich II
's purchase of the collection of cardinal Melchior de Polignac
, which included the well known figure of the "girl playing a game of knucklebones". He acquired in 1747 the already famous bronze statue of the so called "praying boy", which was set up on the terrace of the Schloss Sanssouci until 1786. the collection was significantly expanded in 1758 through the inheritance of the Markgräfin von Ansbach-Bayreuth's collection, which included the "Nile mosaic
" from Praeneste, and in 1764 through the purchase of Philipp von Stosch
's antique gem collection.
The majority of the antiquities were scattered among the royal castles in the 1770s, or shown in a specially-built ancient temple in Potsdam where they were not accessible to the public. 1797 saw the first thoughts of public access, with the plan to erect a public museum in Berlin to show off the most important pieces in the royal collections, among other things. A commission under the direction of Wilhelm von Humboldt
was appointed to select the exhibits. At the same time as this new museum was coming into existence, further important purchases were made, for example in 1827 the collection of bronzes and vases belonging to the consul-general Bartholdy
and in 1828 the collection of 1348 antique vases belonging to the general Franz Freiherr von Koller.
's 1830 building (now the Altes Museum
) in the Lustgarten
next to the Stadtschloss. The collection consisted was predominantly Greek and Roman in the beginning, though it also included some medieval and modern sculptures. In the course of the 19th century, many further purchases were made, including in 1831 the Dorow-Magnus collection of 442 vases. The vase collection was expanded significantly in the following years by the bequest of the archaeologist Eduard Gerhard's collection and became one of the best in the world.
The building's central room was the Rotunda, one of the earliest examples of purpose-built museum architecture
, in which was exhibited the first display of sculptures, as chosen by von Humboldt's commission. Off it extended two halls, one of classical gods, the other of classical heroes, to which were joined two rooms with statues of Roman emperors, portraits, sarcophagi, cinerary urns and reliefs. Small objects were initially housed in the Antiquarium room.
The new museum's first director was the sculptor Ludwig Tieck
, and its first archeological curator (from 1833 to 1855) Eduard Gerhard. Even at this stage - thanks to Gerhard - the focus was not merely on displaying works of art, but also on scientific research and development, then a novelty in museums. A sign of this scientific approach was the beginnings of a systematic catalogue (with drawings) of the museum's ancient artworks from Italy and Greece. This collection of drawings grew fast and its 2500 leaves are used by researchers even in the present day.
During his term of office, Gerhard did not restrict himself to acquiring 'star objects', but instead tried to look at the whole breadth of the collection and to expand it in a variety of areas. In order to produce a complete overview of ancient art-history, he also went against opposition to casts and encouraged their acquisition by the collection instead of expensive original statues. The cast collection - in existence since 1796 at Berlin's Akademie der Künste
- was connected to the museum in 1842. In the following decades, the collection expanded to become one of the largest of its type. The combination of originals and copies in time came to support the Museum's encouragement of research and scholarship.
The old museum-building soon became too small for the collection and a further building, the Neues Museum
(New Museum), was built by Friedrich August Stüler
between 1843 and 1855 to the north of the original building. In this new building, ideas of arranging the archeological collections into a full chronological and conceptual timeline began to become reality. In the lower floor of the museum the Egyptian collection (which had already existed for some years but not been accessible to the public) was put on show, whilst on the upper floor, the cast collection was set up according to designs by Stüler. The rooms' decor and wall paintings were designed specifically to fit the relevant subject or epoch. This new layout, however, did not last long, as in 1879 the vases collection was moved out of the Antiquarium into the new building.
Even though the vase collection had outgrown the storage capacity of the old building, the available space was still not enough, so in 1883 it was decided to separate off the post-ancient sculptures into their own collection, to be housed in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum
(now known as the Bode Museum, or the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst i.e. the Sculpture Collection and Museum for Byzantine Art) that was already in the planning stages. Yet the 1884 purchase of the collection of Peter Alexandrovich Saburov
again caused an acute shortage of space.
To expand of the collection, the museum had since 1875 carried out its own excavations around the Mediterranean, starting with the ruins of Olympia. In 1878 Carl Humann
and Alexander Conze
began excavations in Pergamon, which brought the Museum its most famous object, the Pergamon Altar
. Further excavations followed in Priene, Magnesia, Miletus and Baalbek, but these excavations entailed new problems.
The collection was enriched in the early 20th century by acquisitions as well as by excavations, such as that of smaller objects belonging to Friedrich L. von Gans in 1912, the glass collection purchased in 1913 from M. von Rath, the "Thronende Göttin" (Throne of the Gods) in 1916, the statue of a woman holding an apple in 1925, and a collection of mummy portraits from the Fayum in 1929.
For the presentation of all these pieces of ancient architecture, another new museum building was required. Between 1897 and 1899, the architect Fritz Wolff created the first Pergamon Museum
. It was opened 1901 and in its light well was displayed the Pergamon altar and other architectural examples. Yet problems with the foundations soon led to its closure and demolition closed and dismantled. Wilhelm von Bode
in 1907 planned a new building, begun in 1912, but World War I
and the Wall Street Crash caused building work to come repeatedly to a standstill. In 1930, at the collection's centenary, a new museum (named the Pergamonmuseum from 1958) could be delivered finally at the public, designed by Alfred Messel
and built by Ludwig Hoffmann
. The three existing middle halls were reserved for ancient art.
The old left wing became the Deutsche Museum, to relieve severe space problems at the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum. The right wing was reserved for the Near East collection and the museum of Islamic art. The three middle halls - after large extensions were added - were able to present ancient architecture to its full height, with innovative use of natural light. There was no discussion as to the form of this presentation, leading to some embittered disputes that became known as the "Berliner Museumskrieg" ("Berlin museum war"). Through connections between the three archaeological museums, from 1930 until the museums' closure on the outbreak of war in 1939 visitors were able to undertake a tour through the early high cultures of ancient Egypt, the ancient Near East and the antique world for the next nine years.
s and other measures began. What could be moved was largely taken to the Flaktürme
at the Berlin Zoo and at Friedrichshain
, and in the vaults of the Berlin Mint. With the bombing becoming worse, these places (especially the Flak-towers) seemed unsuitable, and on 10 March 1945 it was decided to move the artworks to mines west of Berlin. After about ten convoys had started to move the collections there, however, it became too dangerous to do so, and this was postponed to the first week of April. So a large part of the small art and the supply of the magazines of the antique collection was instead taken to the Grasleben
mines and to Kaiserroda in Thuringia
. In the course of the war, the Altes Museum and the Neue Museum were destroyed, and the Museumsneubau and some of the exhibits were damaged. In spite of the concern over their safety, the art treasures in the Flaktürmen were hardly damaged during the Battle of Berlin
.
The worst, however, came after the end of the battle, with the guards everywhere deserting their posts and leaving all the stores to be plundered by both Germans and Russians. In two fires in the Flakturm Friedrichshain in May 1945 a large part of the art treasures stored there was probably destroyed including several antiquities. Others were confiscated by the Red Army
and taken back to Moscow
and Leningrad
as "spoils of war", and have still not been returned. How much was taken in this way is still unknown; 25 Greek vases that can be shown to belong to the Berlin collection were shown in 2005 at an exhibition entitled "Archaeology of the War" in the Pushkin Museum
in Moscow. Further vases were discovered in the Muscovite Historic Museum. Several vases, that were loaned in 1903 to the Provincial-Museum at Poznań
(13 of the 19 vases are demonstrably from the Berlin collection), and several portrait busts that were loaned from 1908 to the Schloss there, were subsumed by Poland in 1945 into the Muzeum Narodowe in Poznań
, where they are still held today.
How great the losses were over the whole collection could first be investigated and documented after the reunification of the collection, with the first catalogue of losses appearing in 2005. This catalogue named five large bronze statues (including the "Calvatone
Victory"), approximately 300 marble and stone statues, more than 40 reliefs, more than 20 stone architectural elements, approximately 30 stone vases, more than 1500 vases and vase-fragments (including pieces by the Amasis Painter
, Berlin Painter
, Brygos Painter
, Edinburgh Painter
, Exekias
, Geras Painter and Pan Painter
), 100 pieces of gold jewellery and more than 150 engraved gems.
The collection on the Museum Island
In 1958 the USSR returned much of this war booty to the GDR, but with both the Altes and Neue Museum destroyed a new home was acutely needed for the collections on the Museums Island. The three middle halls of the Pergamon Museum once again housed architectural exhibits, and the central hall again housed the Pergamon Altar. In the right-hand Room was housed Roman architecture, and in the right Wing itself the Near East Museum on the first floor and the Islamic Art museum on the upper floor (as it had been before 1939). In the left hall was housed Greek architecture, with ancient sculptures (formerly in the Altes Museum) in the left wing, and for a short time ancient coins were displayed in the Münzkabinett Berlin. On the upper floor were Roman portraits, Etruscan art
and choice pieces from the collection of small-objects. There was no room, however, for the art of ancient Cyprus until the Altes Museum was rebuilt and these objects had to remain in store
A new entrance was formed in 1982, that led now directly into the middle hall and, from there, to the Pergamon Altar. In 1983-84 the ancient sculptures were redisplayed, this time in a chronological sequence, beginning with archaic Greek art
, through classical originals, Hellenistic sculptures and Roman copies of classical originals, and ending with Roman art.
Kept out of the international art market, the collection was restricted to maintaining and presenting the existing collection on the Museum Island
. Only in a few cases could the collection be enriched by new acquisitions, such as an outstanding Greek marble relief of two horsemen and seven precious vases from private owners.
The collection in Charlottenburg
Also in 1958 the objects that had been evacuated to Thuringia during the war (then moved by the Americans to Celle
in West Germany
) were returned to Berlin. Though a repatriation to the Museum Island was out of the question, other homes were found for the objects. In 1961 the antiquities (already on public display from 1960 in Stüler's barrack buildings at the Schloss at Charlottenburg) were placed in the charge of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
. The objects displayed were the core of the collection of small artworks (including the well known bronze statue of the "Cretan ram-carrier"), most of the former vase collection, the ancient gold jewellery collection (including the Hildesheim
silver hoard), parts of the glass collection, the existing mummy portrait collections (with the addition of one of the few surviving ancient panel paintings, the Severus Tondo), and the collection of ancient helmets from Lipperheide. The display of antiquities, including the arrangement of the treasure chamber in the first floor of the Stüler building, was expanded in 1976. In 1987 the first floor became home to the vases from Magna Graecia
, upon which the arrangement of the antiquities collection was complete and extensive.
In contrast to its East Berlin counterpart, the collection had access to the international art market, and was able to make its first postwar acquisition in 1958, the "torso of a falling wounded man". Up until reunification, as well as the existing material on the museum island, more than 600 new works of art were acquired by purchases and donation. These included numerous ancient vases (among others, the Altamura Painter
, Berlin Painter
, Brygos Painter
, Chiusi Painter
, KY Painter
, Myson, Pan Painter
, Paseas
, Pistoxenos Painter
, Smikros
and the Triptolemos Painter
), numerous marble busts (including a portrait bust of Cleopatra VII), sculptures (including a feminine idol of the Cycladic culture) and sarcophagus (among others, a large sarcophagus of a Roman general well known since the 16th century). Along with these single acquisitions, some larger complexes also came into the possession of the Museum. In 1976 an ancient coin of from Heinrich Amersdorffer's collection, gold jewellery from Tarentum in 1980, a vase collection from a grave in Tarentum in 1984 (including ones by the Armidale Painter, the Dareios Painter, the painter of Copenhagen 4223, the Loebbecke Painter, the Lucera Painter, the Underworld Painter and the Varrese Painter
) and the contents of a late Roman grave in Cologne
in 1986.
In the first Kompartiment, the three great Greek Bronze Age cultures are presented. The Cycladic civilization
of the 3rd millennium BC
is shown through by a millennium of Cycladic figures
and marble, steatite and clay containers are shown, the so-called "Kykladenpfannen" (Cycladic bowls).
The Mycenean culture
is most obviously represented through the fragment of a green limestone capital
from the so-called "Treasury of Atreus", a monumental royal grave in the vicinity of Mycenae. The capital belonged to one of two half-columns that flanked the entry to the grave. Moreover some bronze and "ton" figures are shown, named the Phi
-figure and Psi
-figure after their resemblance to the Greek letters Φ and Ψ. Some of the Mycenean finds were painted by the Grabung in Miletus, including a Hittite
sword that shows close contact with Hittite culture. The earthen vessels on display correspond in part to the usual forms only ever found in the Mycenean culture, but there is also, for example, examples of the krater
form from that period that became important later.
Geometric art is shown by examples of ceramic and bronze objects. These exhibits, from the era between about 1100 and the late 8th century BC, were generally discovered in necropoli
, particularly from individuals' cremation and inhumation graves (with family burials of the Mycenaean era no longer being the norm). These were marked by gravestone or grave vases. These vases frequently also show, amidst their geometric borders, representations of the funeral cult, usually the surrendering of the dead (Prothesis), the sorrow of the family members, the funeral procession (Ekphora) or the funeral games.
Most geometric vases in the Berlin collection come from Attic graves, but the style nevertheless can be seen throughout Greece in different local styles. Pieces of several of these styles are shown, in chronological sequence. Grave goods were frequently made out of bronze, including mirrors, bracelets, pins and brooches. Consecrated cult objects are also on show, including bronze figures also found in graves, with bronze horses felt to be particularly noble as such goods.
Notable pieces are a Geometric-Attic neck-amphora with animal representations by the Empedokles painter, a Geometric-Argive bow- handled krater
, an early Attic Hydria by the Mesogaia-painter, a Bronze votive horse figure as well as five-part set of grave goods (consisting of a Deckelpyxis, a Spitzpyxis, a Kalathos, a bowl and a three-legged stool). All these pieces are burned yellow in tone and with geometrical borders.
Kompartiment 4: Weapons and small finds from Olympia
Kompartiment 5: Ionic
Kompartiment 7: Corinth
Kompartiment 10: States of archaic Greece - Laconia
Kompartiment 11: States of archaic Greece - Athens
Kompartiment 16: Attic Vases IV - Greek heroes
Kompartiment 25: Tanagra
Antiquities
Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures...
collection) is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum
Altes Museum
The Altes Museum , is one of several internationally renowned museums on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. Since restoration work in 1966, it houses the Antikensammlung of the Berlin State Museums...
and Pergamon Museum
Pergamon Museum
The Pergamon Museum is situated on the Museum Island in Berlin. The site was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed in twenty years, from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon houses original-sized, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological artefacts from the ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Cypriot civilizations. Its main attraction is the Pergamon Altar
Pergamon Altar
The Pergamon Altar is a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamon in Asia Minor....
and Greek and Roman architectural elements from Priene
Priene
Priene was an ancient Greek city of Ionia at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of the then course of the Maeander River, from today's Aydin, from today's Söke and from ancient Miletus...
, Magnesia
Magnesia
Magnesia , deriving from the tribe name Magnetes, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly. Its capital is the city of Volos. About 70% of the population of Magnesia live in the Greater Volos area, which is the second-largest city in Thessaly and the third...
, Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
and Falerii
Falerii
Falerii was one of the twelve chief cities of Etruria, situated about 1.5 km west of the ancient Via Flaminia, around 50 kilometers north of Rome.- History :According to legend, it was of Argive origin...
. In addition, the collection includes a large number of ancient sculptures, vases, terracottas, bronzes, sarcophagi, engraved gems and metalwork.
Foundation
The collection's foundations were laid in the time of the BrandenburgBrandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
Elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
Friedrich Wilhelm I
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
by ancient sculptures looted
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
in 1656 from the Villa Regia Palace
Kazimierzowski Palace
The Kazimierz Palace is a building in Warsaw, Poland, adjacent to the Royal Route, at Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28.Originally built in 1637-41, it was rebuilt in 1660 for King John II Casimir and again in 1765-68, by Domenico Merlini, for the Corps of Cadets established by King Stanisław August...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The obtained sculptures were purchased in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
by Polish kings Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
and Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
. This core of the collection, originally housed at the Berlin City Castle, was enlarged through acquisitions, including (among others) the acquisition of the collection of Gerrit Reynst
Gerrit Reynst
Gerrit Reynst was, like his younger brother Jan , a Dutch merchant and art collector from Amsterdam. He was an alderman and member of the town council, entering it in 1646.-The Collection:Gerrit's collection included Italian old-master paintings and antiquities, such as by Johann Liss...
in 1671. Acquisitions continued in 1698 when Friedrich III
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
bought the important collection belonging to the Roman archaeologist Giovanni Pietro Bellori. After a longer interval, in which Friedrich Wilhelm I
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of the House of Hohenzollern, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death...
exchanged, among other things, 36 valuable statues for two dragoon regiments with Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II the Strong
Frederick Augustus I or Augustus II the Strong was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ....
, followed in 1742 by Friedrich II
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
's purchase of the collection of cardinal Melchior de Polignac
Melchior de Polignac
Melchior de Polignac was a French diplomat, Roman Catholic cardinal and neo-Latin poet.A younger son of Armand XVI, marquis de Polignac, he was born at Lavoûte-sur-Loire, Haute-Loire, Auvergne. At an early age he achieved distinction as a diplomat...
, which included the well known figure of the "girl playing a game of knucklebones". He acquired in 1747 the already famous bronze statue of the so called "praying boy", which was set up on the terrace of the Schloss Sanssouci until 1786. the collection was significantly expanded in 1758 through the inheritance of the Markgräfin von Ansbach-Bayreuth's collection, which included the "Nile mosaic
Nile mosaic of Palestrina
thumb|300 px|The Nile Mosaic of Palestrina.The Nile mosaic of Palestrina is a late Hellenistic floor mosaic depicting the Nile in its passage from Ethiopia to the Mediterranean...
" from Praeneste, and in 1764 through the purchase of Philipp von Stosch
Philipp von Stosch
Baron Philipp von Stosch was a Prussian antiquarian who lived in Rome and Florence.Stosch was born in Küstrin in the Neumark region of Brandenburg...
's antique gem collection.
The majority of the antiquities were scattered among the royal castles in the 1770s, or shown in a specially-built ancient temple in Potsdam where they were not accessible to the public. 1797 saw the first thoughts of public access, with the plan to erect a public museum in Berlin to show off the most important pieces in the royal collections, among other things. A commission under the direction of Wilhelm von Humboldt
Wilhelm von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Humboldt was a German philosopher, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of Humboldt Universität. He is especially remembered as a linguist who made important contributions to the philosophy of language and to the theory and practice...
was appointed to select the exhibits. At the same time as this new museum was coming into existence, further important purchases were made, for example in 1827 the collection of bronzes and vases belonging to the consul-general Bartholdy
Jakob Salomon Bartholdy
Jakob Salomon Bartholdy was a Prussian diplomat, born Jakob Salomon in Berlin of Jewish parentage, and educated at the University of Halle...
and in 1828 the collection of 1348 antique vases belonging to the general Franz Freiherr von Koller.
The collection to 1939
The collection found its first home in the Karl Friedrich SchinkelKarl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian architect, city planner, and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassical and neogothic buildings.-Biography:Schinkel was born in Neuruppin, Margraviate of...
's 1830 building (now the Altes Museum
Altes Museum
The Altes Museum , is one of several internationally renowned museums on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. Since restoration work in 1966, it houses the Antikensammlung of the Berlin State Museums...
) in the Lustgarten
Lustgarten
The Lustgarten is a park on Museum Island in central Berlin, near the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss of which it was originally a part...
next to the Stadtschloss. The collection consisted was predominantly Greek and Roman in the beginning, though it also included some medieval and modern sculptures. In the course of the 19th century, many further purchases were made, including in 1831 the Dorow-Magnus collection of 442 vases. The vase collection was expanded significantly in the following years by the bequest of the archaeologist Eduard Gerhard's collection and became one of the best in the world.
The building's central room was the Rotunda, one of the earliest examples of purpose-built museum architecture
Museum architecture
Museum architecture has been of increasing importance over the centuries, especially more recently.A challenge for museum architecture is the differing purposes of the building. The museum collection must be preserved, but it also needs to be made accessible to the public...
, in which was exhibited the first display of sculptures, as chosen by von Humboldt's commission. Off it extended two halls, one of classical gods, the other of classical heroes, to which were joined two rooms with statues of Roman emperors, portraits, sarcophagi, cinerary urns and reliefs. Small objects were initially housed in the Antiquarium room.
The new museum's first director was the sculptor Ludwig Tieck
Ludwig Tieck
Johann Ludwig Tieck was a German poet, translator, editor, novelist, writer of Novellen, and critic, who was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.-Early life:...
, and its first archeological curator (from 1833 to 1855) Eduard Gerhard. Even at this stage - thanks to Gerhard - the focus was not merely on displaying works of art, but also on scientific research and development, then a novelty in museums. A sign of this scientific approach was the beginnings of a systematic catalogue (with drawings) of the museum's ancient artworks from Italy and Greece. This collection of drawings grew fast and its 2500 leaves are used by researchers even in the present day.
During his term of office, Gerhard did not restrict himself to acquiring 'star objects', but instead tried to look at the whole breadth of the collection and to expand it in a variety of areas. In order to produce a complete overview of ancient art-history, he also went against opposition to casts and encouraged their acquisition by the collection instead of expensive original statues. The cast collection - in existence since 1796 at Berlin's Akademie der Künste
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
- was connected to the museum in 1842. In the following decades, the collection expanded to become one of the largest of its type. The combination of originals and copies in time came to support the Museum's encouragement of research and scholarship.
The old museum-building soon became too small for the collection and a further building, the Neues Museum
Neues Museum
The ' is a museum in Berlin, Germany, located to the north of the Altes Museum on Museum Island.It was built between 1843 and 1855 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler, a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The museum was closed at the beginning of World War II in 1939, and was heavily...
(New Museum), was built by Friedrich August Stüler
Friedrich August Stüler
Friedrich August Stüler was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterwork is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Stadtschloss.-Life:...
between 1843 and 1855 to the north of the original building. In this new building, ideas of arranging the archeological collections into a full chronological and conceptual timeline began to become reality. In the lower floor of the museum the Egyptian collection (which had already existed for some years but not been accessible to the public) was put on show, whilst on the upper floor, the cast collection was set up according to designs by Stüler. The rooms' decor and wall paintings were designed specifically to fit the relevant subject or epoch. This new layout, however, did not last long, as in 1879 the vases collection was moved out of the Antiquarium into the new building.
Even though the vase collection had outgrown the storage capacity of the old building, the available space was still not enough, so in 1883 it was decided to separate off the post-ancient sculptures into their own collection, to be housed in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum
Bode Museum
The Bode Museum is one of the group of museums on the Museum Island in Berlin, Germany; it is a historically preserved building. The museum was designed by architect Ernst von Ihne and completed in 1904...
(now known as the Bode Museum, or the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst i.e. the Sculpture Collection and Museum for Byzantine Art) that was already in the planning stages. Yet the 1884 purchase of the collection of Peter Alexandrovich Saburov
Peter Alexandrovich Saburov
Peter Alexandrovich Saburov was a diplomat, collector of ancient Greek sculpture and antiquities, and a strong amateur chess player and patron of chess tournaments, as an honorary President of the St Petersburg Chess Club.As the Tsarist Russian envoy to Greece, he assembled an outstanding...
again caused an acute shortage of space.
To expand of the collection, the museum had since 1875 carried out its own excavations around the Mediterranean, starting with the ruins of Olympia. In 1878 Carl Humann
Carl Humann
Carl Wilhelm Humann was a German engineer, architect and archaeologist...
and Alexander Conze
Alexander Conze
Alexander Christian Leopold Conze was a German archaeologist who specialized in ancient Greek art. He was a native of Hannover, and studied at the University of Göttingen. In 1863 he became a professor at the University of Halle, and from 1869 to 1877 worked at the University of Vienna, where he...
began excavations in Pergamon, which brought the Museum its most famous object, the Pergamon Altar
Pergamon Altar
The Pergamon Altar is a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamon in Asia Minor....
. Further excavations followed in Priene, Magnesia, Miletus and Baalbek, but these excavations entailed new problems.
The collection was enriched in the early 20th century by acquisitions as well as by excavations, such as that of smaller objects belonging to Friedrich L. von Gans in 1912, the glass collection purchased in 1913 from M. von Rath, the "Thronende Göttin" (Throne of the Gods) in 1916, the statue of a woman holding an apple in 1925, and a collection of mummy portraits from the Fayum in 1929.
For the presentation of all these pieces of ancient architecture, another new museum building was required. Between 1897 and 1899, the architect Fritz Wolff created the first Pergamon Museum
Pergamon Museum
The Pergamon Museum is situated on the Museum Island in Berlin. The site was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed in twenty years, from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon houses original-sized, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate...
. It was opened 1901 and in its light well was displayed the Pergamon altar and other architectural examples. Yet problems with the foundations soon led to its closure and demolition closed and dismantled. Wilhelm von Bode
Wilhelm von Bode
Wilhelm von Bode was a German art historian and curator. Born Arnold William Bode in Calvörde, he was ennobled in 1913...
in 1907 planned a new building, begun in 1912, but World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Wall Street Crash caused building work to come repeatedly to a standstill. In 1930, at the collection's centenary, a new museum (named the Pergamonmuseum from 1958) could be delivered finally at the public, designed by Alfred Messel
Alfred Messel
Alfred Messel was one of the most well-known German architects at the turning point to the 20th century, creating a new style for buildings which bridged the transition from historicism to modernism...
and built by Ludwig Hoffmann
Ludwig Hoffmann
Ludwig Hoffmann was a Hauptsturmführer in the Waffen SS during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early life:Ludwig Hoffmann was...
. The three existing middle halls were reserved for ancient art.
The old left wing became the Deutsche Museum, to relieve severe space problems at the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum. The right wing was reserved for the Near East collection and the museum of Islamic art. The three middle halls - after large extensions were added - were able to present ancient architecture to its full height, with innovative use of natural light. There was no discussion as to the form of this presentation, leading to some embittered disputes that became known as the "Berliner Museumskrieg" ("Berlin museum war"). Through connections between the three archaeological museums, from 1930 until the museums' closure on the outbreak of war in 1939 visitors were able to undertake a tour through the early high cultures of ancient Egypt, the ancient Near East and the antique world for the next nine years.
The "Kriegsinferno"
In 1941, safeguarding the objects with sandbagSandbag
A sandbag is a sack made of hessian/burlap, polypropylene or other materials that is filled with sand or soil and used for such purposes as flood control, military fortification, shielding glass windows in war zones and ballast....
s and other measures began. What could be moved was largely taken to the Flaktürme
Flak tower
Flak towers were 8 complexes of large, above-ground, anti-aircraft gun blockhouse towers constructed in the cities of Berlin , Hamburg , and Vienna from 1940 onwards....
at the Berlin Zoo and at Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain is a part of Berlin's borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and like Kreuzberg across the river it has its own distinct character, with the result that the new double name is hardly ever used outside government administration. From its creation in 1920 until Berlin's 2001...
, and in the vaults of the Berlin Mint. With the bombing becoming worse, these places (especially the Flak-towers) seemed unsuitable, and on 10 March 1945 it was decided to move the artworks to mines west of Berlin. After about ten convoys had started to move the collections there, however, it became too dangerous to do so, and this was postponed to the first week of April. So a large part of the small art and the supply of the magazines of the antique collection was instead taken to the Grasleben
Grasleben
Grasleben is a municipality in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km north of Helmstedt, and 20 km southeast of Wolfsburg.Grasleben is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Grasleben....
mines and to Kaiserroda in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
. In the course of the war, the Altes Museum and the Neue Museum were destroyed, and the Museumsneubau and some of the exhibits were damaged. In spite of the concern over their safety, the art treasures in the Flaktürmen were hardly damaged during the Battle of Berlin
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
.
The worst, however, came after the end of the battle, with the guards everywhere deserting their posts and leaving all the stores to be plundered by both Germans and Russians. In two fires in the Flakturm Friedrichshain in May 1945 a large part of the art treasures stored there was probably destroyed including several antiquities. Others were confiscated by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and taken back to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
as "spoils of war", and have still not been returned. How much was taken in this way is still unknown; 25 Greek vases that can be shown to belong to the Berlin collection were shown in 2005 at an exhibition entitled "Archaeology of the War" in the Pushkin Museum
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour....
in Moscow. Further vases were discovered in the Muscovite Historic Museum. Several vases, that were loaned in 1903 to the Provincial-Museum at Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
(13 of the 19 vases are demonstrably from the Berlin collection), and several portrait busts that were loaned from 1908 to the Schloss there, were subsumed by Poland in 1945 into the Muzeum Narodowe in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, where they are still held today.
How great the losses were over the whole collection could first be investigated and documented after the reunification of the collection, with the first catalogue of losses appearing in 2005. This catalogue named five large bronze statues (including the "Calvatone
Calvatone
Calvatone is a comune in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 110 km southeast of Milan and about 35 km east of Cremona. Its territory is crossed by the Oglio River....
Victory"), approximately 300 marble and stone statues, more than 40 reliefs, more than 20 stone architectural elements, approximately 30 stone vases, more than 1500 vases and vase-fragments (including pieces by the Amasis Painter
Amasis Painter
The Amasis Painter was an ancient Greek vase painter of the black figure style. He owes his name to the fact that eight of the potter Amasis's manufactured marked work are painted by the same painter, who is therefore called the Amasis painter...
, Berlin Painter
Berlin Painter
The Berlin Painter is the conventional name given to an Attic Greek vase-painter who is widely regarded as a rival to the Kleophrades Painter, among the most talented vase painters of the early 5th century BCE .The Berlin Painter along with the Kleophrades Painter was educated by a member of the...
, Brygos Painter
Brygos Painter
The Brygos Painter was an ancient Greek Attic red-figure vase painter of the Late Archaic period. Together with Onesimos , Douris and Makron, he is among the most important bowl painters of his time. He was active in the first third of the fifth century BCE, especially in the 480s and 470s...
, Edinburgh Painter
Edinburgh Painter
The Edinburgh Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter, active around 500 BC. His speciality was white-ground lekythoi painted in the black-figure techniques....
, Exekias
Exekias
Exekias was an ancient Greek vase-painter and potter, who worked between approximately 550 BC - 525 BC at Athens. Most of his vases, however, were exported to other regions of the Mediterranean, such as Etruria, while some of his other works remained in Athens. Exekias worked mainly with a...
, Geras Painter and Pan Painter
Pan Painter
The Pan Painter was an ancient Greek vase-painter of the Attic red-figure style, active ca. 480 to 450 BC. A pupil of Myson, he stands the beginning of the Mannerists, though his drawing technique is considered the finest. Sir John Beazley attributed over 150 vases to his hand...
), 100 pieces of gold jewellery and more than 150 engraved gems.
The collection on the Museum IslandMuseum IslandMuseum Island is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, the site of the old city of Cölln...
In 1958 the USSR returned much of this war booty to the GDR, but with both the Altes and Neue Museum destroyed a new home was acutely needed for the collections on the Museums Island. The three middle halls of the Pergamon Museum once again housed architectural exhibits, and the central hall again housed the Pergamon Altar. In the right-hand Room was housed Roman architecture, and in the right Wing itself the Near East Museum on the first floor and the Islamic Art museum on the upper floor (as it had been before 1939). In the left hall was housed Greek architecture, with ancient sculptures (formerly in the Altes Museum) in the left wing, and for a short time ancient coins were displayed in the Münzkabinett Berlin. On the upper floor were Roman portraits, Etruscan artEtruscan art
Etruscan art was the form of figurative art produced by the Etruscan civilization in central Italy between the 9th and 2nd centuries BC. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta and cast bronze, wall-painting and metalworking .-History:The origins of...
and choice pieces from the collection of small-objects. There was no room, however, for the art of ancient Cyprus until the Altes Museum was rebuilt and these objects had to remain in store
A new entrance was formed in 1982, that led now directly into the middle hall and, from there, to the Pergamon Altar. In 1983-84 the ancient sculptures were redisplayed, this time in a chronological sequence, beginning with archaic Greek art
Archaic period in Greece
The Archaic period in Greece was a period of ancient Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages. This period saw the rise of the polis and the founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre in the form of tragedies performed during Dionysia, and written...
, through classical originals, Hellenistic sculptures and Roman copies of classical originals, and ending with Roman art.
Kept out of the international art market, the collection was restricted to maintaining and presenting the existing collection on the Museum Island
Museum Island
Museum Island is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, the site of the old city of Cölln...
. Only in a few cases could the collection be enriched by new acquisitions, such as an outstanding Greek marble relief of two horsemen and seven precious vases from private owners.
The collection in CharlottenburgCharlottenburgCharlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
Also in 1958 the objects that had been evacuated to Thuringia during the war (then moved by the Americans to CelleCelle
Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...
in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
) were returned to Berlin. Though a repatriation to the Museum Island was out of the question, other homes were found for the objects. In 1961 the antiquities (already on public display from 1960 in Stüler's barrack buildings at the Schloss at Charlottenburg) were placed in the charge of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation , headquartered in Berlin, Germany, is one of the largest cultural institutions in the world. It was founded by a West German federal law passed on 25 July 1957, with the mission to acquire and protect the cultural legacy of the former state of Prussia...
. The objects displayed were the core of the collection of small artworks (including the well known bronze statue of the "Cretan ram-carrier"), most of the former vase collection, the ancient gold jewellery collection (including the Hildesheim
Hildesheim
Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...
silver hoard), parts of the glass collection, the existing mummy portrait collections (with the addition of one of the few surviving ancient panel paintings, the Severus Tondo), and the collection of ancient helmets from Lipperheide. The display of antiquities, including the arrangement of the treasure chamber in the first floor of the Stüler building, was expanded in 1976. In 1987 the first floor became home to the vases from Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
, upon which the arrangement of the antiquities collection was complete and extensive.
In contrast to its East Berlin counterpart, the collection had access to the international art market, and was able to make its first postwar acquisition in 1958, the "torso of a falling wounded man". Up until reunification, as well as the existing material on the museum island, more than 600 new works of art were acquired by purchases and donation. These included numerous ancient vases (among others, the Altamura Painter
Altamura painter
The Altamura Painter was an early 5th century Greek vase painter. Most of his work is dated from 475 BC- 425 BC. He was one of the associates of the Niobid Painter. They worked on new techniques which gave their characters different levels of depth and space on the paintings. His worked with the...
, Berlin Painter
Berlin Painter
The Berlin Painter is the conventional name given to an Attic Greek vase-painter who is widely regarded as a rival to the Kleophrades Painter, among the most talented vase painters of the early 5th century BCE .The Berlin Painter along with the Kleophrades Painter was educated by a member of the...
, Brygos Painter
Brygos Painter
The Brygos Painter was an ancient Greek Attic red-figure vase painter of the Late Archaic period. Together with Onesimos , Douris and Makron, he is among the most important bowl painters of his time. He was active in the first third of the fifth century BCE, especially in the 480s and 470s...
, Chiusi Painter
Chiusi Painter
The Chiusi Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter, active in the final quarter of the sixth century BC. His real name is now known.The Chiusi Painter was part of the so-called Leagros Group, the last major important group of painters in the black-figure style...
, KY Painter
KY Painter
The KY Painter was an Attic black-figure vase painter. He was active between 585 and 570 BC.Besides the KX Painter, the KY Painter was the main representative of the Komast Group, which succeeded the Gorgon Painter. His conventional name was allocated by John Beazley. He is considered the less...
, Myson, Pan Painter
Pan Painter
The Pan Painter was an ancient Greek vase-painter of the Attic red-figure style, active ca. 480 to 450 BC. A pupil of Myson, he stands the beginning of the Mannerists, though his drawing technique is considered the finest. Sir John Beazley attributed over 150 vases to his hand...
, Paseas
Paseas
Paseas was a tyrant of the ancient Greek city-state of Sicyon in the 3rd century BC. He succeeded his son, Abantidas, in 252 BC. However, he was assassinated by Nicocles in 251 BC....
, Pistoxenos Painter
Pistoxenos Painter
The Pistoxenos Painter was an important ancient Greek vase painter of the Classical period. He was active in Athens between circa 480 and 460 BC. His conventional name is derived from his name vase. The vase, a skyphos, now at Schwerin, has a signature indicating that it was made by the potter...
, Smikros
Smikros
Smikros was an ancient Greek vase painter who flourished in Athens from 510 until 500 BCE. He was active in the workshop of the Euphronios...
and the Triptolemos Painter
Triptolemos Painter
The Triptolemos Painter was an ancient Greek vase painter, belonging to the Attic red-figure style. He was active in Athens between 490 and 470 BC. His real name is not known. He started working in the workshop of Euphronios, where he was probably taught by Douris. Later, he also worked for the...
), numerous marble busts (including a portrait bust of Cleopatra VII), sculptures (including a feminine idol of the Cycladic culture) and sarcophagus (among others, a large sarcophagus of a Roman general well known since the 16th century). Along with these single acquisitions, some larger complexes also came into the possession of the Museum. In 1976 an ancient coin of from Heinrich Amersdorffer's collection, gold jewellery from Tarentum in 1980, a vase collection from a grave in Tarentum in 1984 (including ones by the Armidale Painter, the Dareios Painter, the painter of Copenhagen 4223, the Loebbecke Painter, the Lucera Painter, the Underworld Painter and the Varrese Painter
Varrese Painter
The Varrese Painter was an Apulian red-figure vase painter. His works are dated to the middle of the 4th century BC.His conventional name is derived from the Varrese hypogeum at Canosa di Puglia, which contained several vases painted by him. In total, over 200 known vases are attributed to him...
) and the contents of a late Roman grave in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
in 1986.
Altes Museum display
The assembly in the Altes Museum takes in the ground floor of the building and is organized into three large halls and three smaller rooms as well as the Rotunda. The halls are divided up into 30 units in total, named Kompartiments. The Kompartiments are organized by their objects' time, place or theme. Several Kompartiments with connected themes are placed close together. Most Kompartiments between from 12 to 22 are on ancient Greek art, represented above all by Attic vases, Kompartiments 23 to 25 are on Magna Grecia, 26 and 27 on the Hellenistic era and the three last compartments on ancient Roman art.Kompartiment 1 - Cyclades, Crete, Mycenae
Cycladic civilization
Cycladic civilization is an Early Bronze Age culture of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, spanning the period from approximately 3000 BC-2000 BC.-History:...
of the 3rd millennium BC
3rd millennium BC
The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age.It represents a period of time in which imperialism, or the desire to conquer, grew to prominence, in the city states of the Middle East, but also throughout Eurasia, with Indo-European expansion to Anatolia, Europe and Central Asia. The...
is shown through by a millennium of Cycladic figures
Cycladic art
Cycladic art encompasses the visual art of the ancient Cycladic civilization, which flourished in the islands of the Aegean Sea from 3300 - 2000 BCE. Along with the Minoans and Mycenaeans, the Cycladic people are counted among the three major Aegean cultures...
and marble, steatite and clay containers are shown, the so-called "Kykladenpfannen" (Cycladic bowls).
The Mycenean culture
Mycenaean Greece
Mycenaean Greece was a cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...
is most obviously represented through the fragment of a green limestone capital
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
from the so-called "Treasury of Atreus", a monumental royal grave in the vicinity of Mycenae. The capital belonged to one of two half-columns that flanked the entry to the grave. Moreover some bronze and "ton" figures are shown, named the Phi
Phi
Phi may refer to:In language:*Phi, the Greek letter Φ,φ, the symbol for voiceless bilabial fricativeIn mathematics:*The Golden ratio*Euler's totient function*A statistical measure of association reported with the chi-squared test...
-figure and Psi
Psi
-Alphabetic letters:* Psi 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet* Psi , a letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek-Mathematics:* Tangential angle of a curve*Chebyshev function*Dedekind psi function*Digamma function...
-figure after their resemblance to the Greek letters Φ and Ψ. Some of the Mycenean finds were painted by the Grabung in Miletus, including a Hittite
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
sword that shows close contact with Hittite culture. The earthen vessels on display correspond in part to the usual forms only ever found in the Mycenean culture, but there is also, for example, examples of the krater
Krater
A krater was a large vase used to mix wine and water in Ancient Greece.-Form and function:...
form from that period that became important later.
Kompartiment 2: Geometric Art
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
, particularly from individuals' cremation and inhumation graves (with family burials of the Mycenaean era no longer being the norm). These were marked by gravestone or grave vases. These vases frequently also show, amidst their geometric borders, representations of the funeral cult, usually the surrendering of the dead (Prothesis), the sorrow of the family members, the funeral procession (Ekphora) or the funeral games.
Most geometric vases in the Berlin collection come from Attic graves, but the style nevertheless can be seen throughout Greece in different local styles. Pieces of several of these styles are shown, in chronological sequence. Grave goods were frequently made out of bronze, including mirrors, bracelets, pins and brooches. Consecrated cult objects are also on show, including bronze figures also found in graves, with bronze horses felt to be particularly noble as such goods.
Notable pieces are a Geometric-Attic neck-amphora with animal representations by the Empedokles painter, a Geometric-Argive bow- handled krater
Krater
A krater was a large vase used to mix wine and water in Ancient Greece.-Form and function:...
, an early Attic Hydria by the Mesogaia-painter, a Bronze votive horse figure as well as five-part set of grave goods (consisting of a Deckelpyxis, a Spitzpyxis, a Kalathos, a bowl and a three-legged stool). All these pieces are burned yellow in tone and with geometrical borders.
Kompartiment 4: Weapons and small finds from OlympiaOlympia, GreeceOlympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...
Kompartiment 5: IonicIoniaIonia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
Greece I - SamosSamos IslandSamos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...
Kompartiment 7: CorinthCorinthCorinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
and AeginaAeginaAegina is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of Aeacus, who was born in and ruled the island. During ancient times, Aegina was a rival to Athens, the great sea power of the era.-Municipality:The municipality...
- trade in archaic Greece
Kompartiment 10: States of archaic Greece - LaconiaLaconiaLaconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti...
and Boetia
Kompartiment 11: States of archaic Greece - AthensHistory of AthensAthens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for at least 7000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BCE and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BCE laid the foundations...
Kompartiment 12: Attic Vases I - Sport among the Greeks
Kompartiment 16: Attic Vases IV - Greek heroesGreek hero cultHero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. In Homeric Greek, "hero" refers to a man who was fighting on either side during the Trojan War...
Kompartiment 21: Attic Vases VIII - Theatre and public life
Kompartiment 22: Attic Vases IX - Women's lives in the city
Kompartiment 25: TanagraTanagra figurineThe Tanagra figurines were a mold-cast type of Greek terracotta figurines produced from the later fourth century BCE, primarily in the Boeotian town of Tanagra. They were coated with a liquid white slip before firing and were sometimes painted afterwards in naturalistic tints with watercolors, such...
and Hellenism in the east
Further reading
- Belser Kunstbibliothek, Die Meisterwerke aus dem Antikenmuseum Berlin, Stuttgart / Zürich 1980
- Gerhard and Ursula Stelzer, Bilderhandbuch der Kunstsammlungen in der DDR, Leipzig 1984
- Exhibition catalogue, Weltschätze der Kunst – der Menschheit bewahrt, Berlin 1985
- Wolf-Dieter Heilmeyer (Hrsg.): Antikenmuseum Berlin – Die ausgestellten Werke, Berlin 1988
- Rudolf Fellmann (Hg.): Antike Welt im Pergamon- und Bodemuseum, von Zabern, Mainz 1990 (Sonderhefte zur "Antiken Welt") ISBN 3-8053-1186-9
- Bertelsmanns Museums-Führer, Gütersloh / München 1992
- Brigitte Knittlmayer and Wolf-Dieter Heilmeyer (Hgg.): Die Antikensammlung. Altes Museum, Pergamonmuseum, von Zabern, 2. Auflage, Mainz 1998 ISBN 3-8053-2449-9
- Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Hrsg.), Dokumentation der Verluste – Antikensammlung Bd. V. 1, Berlin, 2005, ISBN 3-88609-522-3
- Andreas Scholl and Gertrud Platz (Hrsgg.): Altes Museum - Pergamonmuseum. Die Antikensammlung. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. 3., vollständig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2007