The Golden Legend

22nd January (Fri.) - 6th March (Sun.), 2016

Closed on Mondays

Admission Fee:

Adults: 1500 yen, College students: 1300 yen 
Elementary / Junior high school / high school students: 800 yen
held in Gallery 3, 4

This exhibition introduces gold items created by the civilizations that flourished in the ancient Mediterranean area – Greece, Thrace, Etruria and Rome. The world’s oldest gold items, excavated in the Bulgarian city of Varna on the Black Sea coast, are restored to how they looked at the time of their excavation, for this display. Other exhibits include jewelry, which reveals how the ancient Greek artisans were particularly skilled at complex designs from this so called Golden Civilization, and the incomparable intricacy of Etruscan arm bands with their technical prowess visible in their tiny granules of gold. Thus this époque-making exhibition presents the breadth and depth of these diverse civilizations and regions.

The enduring human fascination with gold, its acquisition and at times its loss, is clearly depicted in Greek myths focusing on this precious metal and its influence through history. Along with ancient gold artifacts, this exhibition features paintings on such gold-related themes as the Golden Fleece, the Golden Shower and the Golden Apple. Their display alongside the ancient materials will illuminate the human fascination with the gleam of gold, and our history of involvement with this eternal metal.

The Vulchitrun Treasure
2nd half of 14th - early 13th century B.C. 
Vulchitrun, Bulgaria
Sofia, National Institute of Archaeology with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Photograph:National Institute of Archaeology with Museum – Sofia, Bulgaria

Bracelet
675-650 B.C. 
Cerveteri, necropoli del Sorbo, Tomba Regolini-Galassi, camera di fondo
Musei Vativani, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Cittá del Vaticano
foto ©musei vaticani - tutti i diritti riservati

Necklace
4th century B.C.
Orvieto
Roma, Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia
©Immagine della Soprintendenza Archeologia del Lazio e dell’Etruria Meridionale

Herbert James Draper
The Golden Fleece
ca.1904
Bradford Museums and Galleries
©Bradford Museums and Galleries

Gustav Klimt
Life is a Struggle (Golden Rider)
1903
Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art