October 3, 2000-January 14, 2001
Special Exhibitions Galleries, first floor, adjacent to New Greek Galleries
In celebration of the new millennium, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present an unprecedented exhibition — drawn almost entirely from its own collections — of nearly 150 works of art that were produced some 2,000 years ago in the period just before and after the Year One. On view October 3, 2000 through January 14, 2001, The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West will feature magnificent and distinctive works of art from Western Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, the Middle East, India, China, Southeast Asia, and the Americas.
The exhibition will highlight the interconnections that existed between these widely separated parts of the world. Some relationships were established through the extension of Roman power under the rule of Augustus, the first Roman emperor (27 B.C.- A.D.14). Others evolved through the overland and maritime trade routes that provided the East and West with tantalizing glimpses of each other and that also linked many Asian cultures in an unprecedented fashion. Artistic traditions and religious beliefs were exchanged along these global networks, as were luxury goods such as Roman glass, Chinese silk, and East Indian pepper. While the works from each culture will be shown together, the exhibition will be organized to give a sense of the geographical and cultural proximity of different regions.
Philippe de Montebello, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, commented on the exhibition: "It is a privilege to present this vivid survey of the world's artistic production around the Year One. This unique exhibition will give our visitors an opportunity to see the richness and variety of cultures that flourished 2,000 years ago at the moment when our calendar started, and to witness the extraordinary artistic discourse that often existed between distant parts of the world. Only an encyclopedic museum such as the Metropolitan could present such an exhibition in a manner that fully reflects the quality and breadth of this cultural efflorescence. To unite these masterpieces from the Museum's collections, which are usually shown in separate galleries and which are overseen by curators in six different curatorial departments, seems an appropriate way to celebrate the coming of a new millennium."
Roman art in the age of Augustus reached an extraordinary level of sophistication — both in the public sphere, as a new imperial iconography was developed and Rome itself was embellished with new buildings, and in the private realm, as wealth was poured into lavish private villas. Portrait busts, bronze statues, elegant architectural decorations, and a selection of coins will evoke official art. Panels from the imperial villa at Boscotrecase, examples of garden sculpture, silver, glass, and jewelry will illustrate the refinements achieved for private patrons.
During this period the Celtic tribes dwelling in what is modern France as well as eastward to the Rhine were organized as Roman provinces, and Egypt fell to Rome with the suicide of Cleopatra in 30 B.C. Two recently acquired masterpieces of Celtic metalwork — a bronze sword and a silver and gold brooch set with carnelians — will be among the highlights of the exhibition. Intriguing mixtures of traditional Egyptian iconography with Hellenistic and Roman styles mark the art of Roman Egypt, as can be seen in the selection of statuettes, vessels, funerary masks, and jewelry that will be on view. A magnificent black stone statue carved in the traditional Egyptian manner and likely representing Caesarion, eldest son of Cleopatra, will also be featured.
The Parthian Empire stretched from the Euphrates River almost to the Indus, occupying modern Iran and Iraq, as well as portions of Syria and Turkey. It was an important bordering power to the Roman Empire and controlled much of the trade
passing between the East and West. A stone statue of a ruler and an extraordinary silver-gilt rhyton with the forepart of a panther will be among the works from this period in the exhibition.
Ancient Gandhara (roughly present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) was at the westernmost end of the multiple trade routes that traversed the mostly inhospitable deserts, steppes, and mountains of the Asian heartland. Gandhara flourished during this period under the rule of the Kushan dynasty and the art produced there incorporated elements from both the West and the East. On view will be an athlete's stone weight with a figure resembling the Greek hero Herakles in combat with the Nemean lion. The defined musculature and heavy drapery of a towering stone torso of a bodhisattva — one of the most remarkable works in the exhibition — can also be traced to Western idioms.
Han China (221 B.C.- A.D. 220) provided the military might behind the pax sinica that made the exchange of goods along the overland Silk Routes feasible. Under the rule of the martial emperor Han Wudi (141-87 B.C.), China expanded its reach not only to more distant parts of Central Asia but also to areas of Korea and Vietnam. Administration of this vast empire was in the hands of a scholar-elite educated in the works of Confucius and other classics. Members of this group, the aristocracy, and even wealthy merchants equipped lavish tombs for use in the afterlife. In addition to elegant bronze and lacquer vessels, such tombs contained terracotta sculptures of attendants and entertainers. Two figures playing the board game liubo, and an elegant dancer captured in a moment of ethereal stillness exemplify the liveliness and sophistication of these sculptures that are known as mingqi or spirit goods.
Relations between Korea and Japan and their interactions with the Chinese mainland are reflected in the introduction of the use of more refined clays, and in the occasional inclusion of ceramics in burials. A monumental ceremonial bronze bell from Japan known as a dotaku will be featured in this part of the exhibition. The burial of such bells in isolated locations, though never in graves, is generally interpreted as a reference to their otherworldly powers and to the prestige of bronze regalia in Japan
during the Yayoi period (4th century B.C.-3rd century A.D).
Centuries-old traditions of bronze working also unite the various cultures of peninsular and island Southeast Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia are noted for their production of astonishing weapons, jewelry, and vessels often profusely decorated with spirals and other geometric patterns. Of these, the most famous are the Dongson drums, named after the site in northern Vietnam where they were first discovered. They have been found in an area ranging from southern China to Indonesia. Three examples will be featured in the exhibition—two miniature drums from Vietnam and a beautifully cast full-sized tympanum of the Pejeng type from Indonesia. Equally stunning is an immense vessel in the form of an axe decorated with subtle designs in the shapes of horns, diamonds, and stars. Like the kettle drums, this magnificent object was a ceremonial piece. Most likely produced in one part of Southeast Asia and used in another, it symbolized the relationship between a local chief and another ruler in the region.
While there were no known contacts between the Americas and the rest of the world at this time, the exhibition will present a selection of powerful works that were created in the Americas during this period. The Maya — who inhabited a region that today includes southern Mexico, Guatemala and parts of El Salvador and Honduras — produced ceramic vessels of great simplicity and beauty. Calima face masks dating to the first century B.C. are among the earliest gold masks known from Precolumbian America. Found in modern Colombia, these hammered gold masks made to honor the dead have naturalistic facial features rendered in considerable depth. An extraordinary ceramic figure over two feet high representing a crouching old man with an expressive and baggy-eyed face comes from the Tolita culture on the Pacific coast of South America in modern Ecuador. The Nasca in southern Peru made carefully surfaced ceramic vessels of many bright colors toward the end of the first millennium B.C. The exhibition will feature a large ceramic drum decorated with a rotund seated figure that has killer whales outlining
its eyes.
Publication
A book, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press, will accompany the exhibition. The 304-page hardcover publication will feature 161 illustrations, including 141 in color.
The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West will be coordinated by Elizabeth J. Milleker, Associate Curator in the Museum's Department of Greek and Roman Art, with the assistance of Christopher Lightfoot, Associate Curator, Department of Greek and Roman Art; Marsha Hill, Associate Curator, Department of Egyptian Art; Joan Aruz, Acting Associate Curator in Charge, Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art; Melanie Holcomb, Assistant Curator, Department of Medieval Art; Denise Leidy, Associate Research Curator, Department of Asian Art; and Julie Jones, Curator in Charge, Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Exhibition design is by Jeffrey L. Daly, Chief Designer, with graphics by Sue Koch, Senior Graphic Designer, and lighting by Zack Zanolli, Lighting Designer, all of the Museum's Design Department.
Educational Programs
A variety of educational programs will be offered in conjunction with the exhibition, including lectures, gallery talks, films, training for teachers, and programs for families. The exhibition will also be featured on the Museum's Web site (www.metmuseum.org).
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May 8, 2000
Press resources