Exhibition dates: June 29 – October 3, 2004
Exhibition location: Mary and Michael Jaharis Gallery
In honor of the modern Olympics that will take place in Athens this summer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will display a special selection of ancient Greek vases, bronzes, and additional works showcasing aspects of the games that were held in Athens in antiquity. Opening on June 29, The Games in Ancient Athens: A Special Presentation to Celebrate the 2004 Olympics will feature some 50 works of art created between the sixth and the fourth century B.C. depicting chariot races, foot races, wrestling, and discus throwing, among other athletic activities. This presentation, which is drawn entirely from the Museum's extensive collection of Greek art, will be located within the Mary and Michael Jaharis Gallery, as well as in adjacent areas of the New Greek Galleries, where examples of athletic art already on view will be highlighted.
Athletics were of major importance in the life of the ancient Greeks. The Olympic games, inaugurated in 776 B.C., were established at Olympia in the Peloponnesos. Held thereafter every four years in honor of the god Zeus, the Olympic games endured for more than one thousand years. By the sixth century B.C., panhellenic
– from pan, or "all," and hellenikos, or "Greek" – games were held at Delphi, Nemea, Isthmia, and Olympia, and were called periodos or "circuit" games. Many local games, such as those at Athens, were modeled on these four. The Greeks esteemed the human body as the most beautiful of forms and they tried, through exercise, to make their own bodies perfect. They felt that their love for athletics was something that distinguished them from barbarians, and only Greek citizens were allowed to compete in the games. For the ancient Greeks, whose fiercely independent city-states were often at war with one another, athletic contests became a unifying, peacemaking force. During the Olympic games, all hostilities were suspended. City-states sent their best athletes to compete. Victors brought honor to themselves, their families, and their home towns, and were given public honors – statues were dedicated to them and victory poems were written to commemorate their feats.
The Games in Ancient Athens highlights the Panathenaic games, the most important games held at Athens in antiquity, which were considered sacred to the goddess Athena. Most prominent in the presentation are nine large Panathenaic prize amphorae, dating from the middle of the sixth century B.C. to the second quarter of the fourth century B.C. On one side of these impressive vases are illustrations of various competitions, including four-horse chariot races, sprinting and long-distance running events, and wrestling. On the other side, the goddess Athena is generally shown striding between two columns with the inscription "one of the prizes from Athens." One of the earliest extant Panathenaic vases will be on display, signed by Nikias and made in the sixth century B.C. Another exceptionally well-preserved example of the fourth century B.C. still has its lid intact. It illustrates the development of the vase shape as well as the conservatism of the decoration, which retained the use of the black-figure technique long after red- figure had become the preferred method for painting Athenian vases. Each Panathenaic amphora was filled with some 38 liters of olive oil harvested from the sacred olive groves of Athena. As many as 140 Panathenaic amphorae were awarded to the winners of the chariot races and lesser numbers for competitors who were victorious in other events.
Four outstanding bronze statuettes from various regions of the Greek world will also be on view, depicting athletes in the midst of competition and at rest.
Related works that are currently on view in the Museum's New Greek Galleries – including marble sculptures, Athenian black-figure and red-figure vases, and silver coins – will remain in their usual settings and will be identified with special labels. During the presentation of The Games in Ancient Athens, they will carry special labeling, so that visitors can identify them easily in the galleries, as well as descriptive text with additional information on the theme of Greek athletics and the Panathenaic games.
The exhibition will be featured on the Museum's Web site (www.metmuseum.org).
Among the educational programs organized to complement the exhibition will be a lecture by Seán Hemingway, Associate Curator of Greek and Roman Art.
The exhibition is organized by Seán Hemingway and Christopher S. Lightfoot, Associate Curators, under the direction of Carlos A. Picón, Curator in Charge, Department of Greek and Roman Art. Exhibition design is by Jeffrey L. Daly, Chief Designer; graphics are by Constance Norkin, Graphic Designer; and lighting is by Clint Ross Coller and Rich Lichte, Lighting Designers, all of the Museum's Design Department.
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