The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Special Exhibitions


	Current Exhibitions
	Upcoming Exhibitions
	Past Exhibitions
	Traveling Exhibitions

Printing Instructions

The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes

Back to main page for this exhibition

Stag, 4th century B.C. Filippovka, kurgan 1, burial entryway. Wood, gold, silver, and bronze. Archaeological Museum, Ufa.

More about This Exhibition
Between 1986 and 1990, hundreds of astonishing objects—ornately carved and decorated in a unique style and covered in gold—were excavated at an archaeological site outside the village of Filippovka, located on southern Russia's open steppes. Representing one of the most important caches of early nomadic Eurasian art, these treasures date from the 5th to the 4th century B.C. and are characterized by the extensive use of animal imagery—most notably that of a deer. The Metropolitan Museum of Art presented some 200 of these dazzling works—none of which had ever been on public view anywhere—in a dramatic display, "The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes," on view from October 12, 2000 through February 4, 2001.

The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg (Russia) lent an additional 100 works—including many spectacular objects from its fabled Gold Room—joining with the Archaeological Museum of the city of Ufa (Bashkortostan) in this unprecedented international exchange. Sixteen impressive wooden stags from the new find—some almost two feet in height and covered with gold and silver—were the centerpiece of the exhibition.

The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, and the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Center for Ethnological Studies, Ufa Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Bashkortostan, Russian Federation.

An indemnity was granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

The exhibition catalogue was made possible by the Doris Duke Fund for Publications.

More about the Objects on View

More about Style

Educational Programs

Exhibition Publication

Exhibition Organizers and Credits

More about the Objects on View
Some two dozen kurgans (burial mounds) at the archaeological site at Filippovka were excavated over a period of four years in the late 1980s. Although many of the kurgans had been partially plundered in antiquity, exquisitely worked gold and silver artifacts in large numbers were left behind, indicating the burial of tribal chieftains. In addition to several dozen magnificent deer, almost two feet in height and with curving antlers rising above their richly patterned bodies, the excavation yielded several hundred elaborate gold appliqués, chased with figures of animals both natural and fantastic, which once adorned wooden bowls and drinking cups. Many of these were on view in the exhibition at the Metropolitan.

Among the most significant works of art from the State Hermitage Museum were the golden comb excavated in 1913 in the Solokha kurgan (in the Dnepropetrovsk region, Russia) and the golden vessel discovered in 1830 in the Kul' Oba kurgan (near Kerch, Crimea, Ukraine). These magnificent Scythian works, both of which depict Eurasian nomads, are beautifully modeled and show remarkable realism in details of dress and anatomy.

The art of ancient Iran during the Achaemenid Empire (6th–4th century B.C.) and its relationship to the finds from Filippovka was illustrated by precious metal vessels from the Metropolitan Museum's collection.

Stylistic affinities lie to the east, where there was a similar use of spiral-shaped ornament on the surface of animal bodies. Certain other characteristics, however, demonstrate cultural connections with the Scythians, who occupied the shores of the Black Sea to the west. The items excavated at Filippovka exhibit the same abundant use of gold as the well-documented Scythian discoveries, although the techniques used to create the objects differ greatly. Finally, objects of foreign origin also unearthed in the tombs link the people of Filippovka with other cultures. Among these remarkable works are gold and silver items that resemble art from ancient Iran. To suggest the complex relationship that appears to have existed among these neighboring cultures in the first millennium B.C., the presentation at the Metropolitan included gold objects from the Scythian tombs near the Black Sea; textiles, leather, gold, and wooden works of art from Siberia; and gold and bronze pieces from the Caucasus and Central Asia.

More about Style
Scholars believe that the people whose stylistically unique works were recently unearthed at Filippovka were a nomadic tribe that occupied the area around the 4th century B.C. and were associated with the Sarmatian people. The art found here resembles that of other early Eurasian nomadic cultures—specifically in the multitude and variety of animal forms used to adorn every manner of object. Although the people whose works were discovered at Filippovka favored the deer, various animals—including wolves, leopards, birds of prey, boars, camels, elk, fish, rams, and griffins (a mythological animal with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle)—were also found.

"The Filippovka find dazzles us by its beauty," commented Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan. "But these newly discovered works also compel us to delve more deeply into their mysterious history. Who were the people who created such astonishing masterpieces? While the question is debated, we are delighted to provide the public with a rare glimpse of the remarkable artifacts created by a little-known, yet highly developed culture of long ago. We look to the ancient Greek and Roman authors, who suggested that these people—neighbors of the Scythians—may have been Sarmatians, as we display these enigmatic treasures from Filippovka alongside those known to originate in neighboring cultures."

Mr. de Montebello continued: "In drama and grandeur, 'The Golden Deer of Eurasia' will recall another exhibition that also featured the glorious art of the Scythians. The Museum's highly acclaimed and immensely popular exhibition 'From the Lands of the Scythians'—shown in 1975—was an early indicator of our ever-growing fascination with the art of ancient civilizations."

Educational Programs
A variety of programs and educational resources were organized in conjunction with the exhibition. These included a symposium, lectures and gallery talks, films, and family programs.

An audio tour, part of the Metropolitan's new Key to the Met Audio Guide, was available for rental.

The Key to the Met Audio Guide program was sponsored by Bloomberg News.

Exhibition Publication
The exhibition was accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, which is available in the Museum's bookshops and in the online Met Store. Published by the Metropolitan Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, the catalogue features essays by noted scholars from Russia and the United States.

The exhibition catalogue was made possible by the Doris Duke Fund for Publications.

Exhibition Organizers and Credits
The exhibition was organized at the Metropolitan by Joan Aruz, acting associate curator in charge of the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. Exhibition design was by Michael Langley, exhibition designer; graphic design was by Barbara Weiss, graphic designer; and lighting was by Zack Zanolli, lighting designer, all of the Museum's Design Department.

Photograph Credits