Gazette Drouot - C apencheres

THE MAGAZINE INSIDE THE MUSEUM
Portrait of a woman. Antinoe. 2nd century AD, painted wood partially
gilded with gold leaf. Department of Egyptian Antiquities.
of a Christian empire in 380 AD, and the end of paganism.
The museum trail is simultaneously geographical,
thematic and chronological. Visitors first enter the funerary
world conceived by the Egyptians. This presentation
sheds light on the religious beliefs and artistic
adaptations of a mixed population of Egyptians, Greeks
and Hellenised Romans. Through mummies, sarcophagi,
burial furniture, shrouds, bandages, stucco
masks and painted portraits, they express dogmas and
burial practices marked by the weight of Pharaonic
tradition. In the Near East, the wide diversity of peoples
occupying huge and varied geographical zones gave
rise to the expression of ancient traditions that are
clearly visible in the statues, sarcophagi in stone or lead,
cippi, stelae and ossuaries, despite the predominance
of the Greek model. Funerary monuments are evoked
© 2012 Musée du Louvre, distribut. by RMN/Georges Poncet
116 GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL I N° 19
through sculpted fragments from the tomb of the
Kings in Jerusalem. Religious life is illustrated by objects
used for religious practices (commemorative altars,
incense trowels and censers), and through the images
of local, Greek or Hellenised deities. A striking evocation
of the Mithraeum of Sidon stages Mithras, a divinity
of Iranian origin, sacrificing a bull amidst the followers
of this mystery-filled religion. An isolated case in
the Syrian religious landscape, the Hebraic religion,
advocating monotheism, is represented among other
things by the jar of Qumran from the Dead Sea site,
which contained sacred scrolls. The space devoted to
elites and administrative organisation has as its starting
point the bowl from Caesarea (4th century), decorated
with a scene of the founding of the city. Carved
portraits of emperors and prominent figures, inscribed
monuments and coins all evoke the historical and political
context of the Roman East forming a backdrop to
the daily lives of various populations. So, close by, we
see a number of works produced in the workshops of
glassmakers, potters and bronze workers. Magnificent
garments in linen and wool adorned with geometric,
vegetal and figured patterns (tunics, shawls, headdresses
and shoes) completed with jewellery bear
witness to the tastes and fashions of that period.
Furnishing fabrics in printed cloth and Egyptian
tapestry-work, together with mosaics from Antioch
(4th-5th century AD) evoke private life within the
houses and their rich decoration, with a wide range of
colours and an infinite variety of motifs. In contrast,
mosaics with Christian themes brought together
around the ornamental tiling of Saint Christopher's
Church, discovered in Qabr Hiram (Lebanon, early 7th
century), were intended to adorn the Byzantine
churches of the Near East, as were a number of contemporary
tapestries from Egypt. Meanwhile a number of
Nubian paintings and sculptures from the cathedral in
Faras (7th – 9th century), lent to the Louvre by the
Fragment of ornamental tiling decorated
with birds around a vase (detail),
Daphne (suburb of Antioch on the Orontes, Antakya, Turkey), first half
of 3rd century AD, marble, limestone and glass cubes, 182 x 193 cm.
Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities.