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New Gallery of the Bronze Age Aegean Opens November 5

Explore the rise and enigmatic fall of once-flourishing civilizations of the Aegean Sea

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is proud to announce the opening of the new permanent Gallery of the Bronze Age Aegean on the third floor of the Philosophers’ Walk building. From Saturday, November 5, 2005, visitors can experience the diverse cultures that evolved into modern-day Greece. With more than 300 artifacts on display, the gallery explores the rise and enigmatic fall of once-flourishing civilizations in the Aegean region – on the Cycladic islands, on the island of Crete and mainland Greece – from approximately 3000 to 1100 BC.

“The Museum’s beautiful Gallery of Greece has always been a focal point for visitors,” says William Thorsell, the ROM’s Director and CEO. “Now, with the creation of the permanent Gallery of the Bronze Age Aegean, visitors will be introduced to the early civilizations that helped mould modern Greece.”

The Aegean Bronze Age is unique in that it was not one specific area that excelled but a group of civilizations at different times, stretching over nearly two thousand years of history. Each culture – Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean – took centre stage at different eras in the Bronze Age. An impressive far-reaching trade network was established in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Bronze Age with Cyprus being the Aegean civilization’s main source for copper. Objects were then exported far and wide, supporting the continued bronze trade.

“The new Gallery of the Bronze Age Aegean offers visitors the opportunity to see the ROM’s important collection of Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean art for the first time in 25 years,” says Paul Denis, Curator of the Greek and Roman collections at the ROM. “We are very grateful for the generous support of the Government of Greece and the Greek Communities of Canada for helping bring this wonderful new space to the public.”

The gallery features splendid marble vessels and small abstract human figurines from the flourishing culture of the Cyclades, north of Crete. The Minoan section is highlighted by a large larnax (or coffin) and a fine selection of vases. On mainland Greece, the powerful Mycenaeans emerged around 1600 BC. Their art, greatly influenced by that of Crete, is represented by a series of important vases and a glass necklace.

The Cycladic period (3200 to 2000 BC) centred on the culture that flourished on the Cyclades, an island group south-east of the Greek mainland; the nearly 200 islands form what could be considered the Greek archipelago in the Aegean Sea. The period is known for its splendid female figurines made from the island’s pure white marble. The Minoan period (2000 to 1100 BC) flourished on the island of Crete, to the south of the Cyclades islands. The name Minoan was coined by Sir Arthur Evans after the mythical king Minos.

The Royal Ontario Museum’s earliest acquisitions of Minoan artifacts were excavated in 1903 by its first director, Dr. C.T. Currelly. These were clay votive figurines originating from the peak sanctuary at Petsophas. Minoans worshipped in these peak sanctuaries or in caves. Religious themes can be seen throughout this section of the gallery, as well as many beautiful vases and terracotta figures.

The last phase and height of the Aegean Bronze Age is the Mycenaean period (1600 to 1050 BC). This culture flourished on mainland Greece and was named after the principal city-state of Mycenae, home of King Agamemnon of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. This was also a time when fortified palaces were centres of power and commerce. Artifacts from the ROM’s collection take centre stage in this section: a fine glass necklace – the earliest example of glassmaking in Western Europe – as well as vases and religious works.

The Mycenaean period evolved into what archaeologists now consider a dark age, ca. 1050 to 800 BC. It is not known why or how these prosperous cultures started to slowly decline, but there is evidence pointing to mass destruction, depopulation and economic decay. Nearly 70 per cent of the population left mainland Greece, with those remaining living in small isolated farming communities, with very little contact with the outside world.

The Gallery of the Bronze Age Aegean is connected to the new Geometric Gallery. The Geometric period (1050 to 700 BC) marked the beginning of the Iron Age in Greece. Between 800 and 700 BC, a revitalized Greek civilization emerged focused around the city of Athens. During this period, the Greek language and alphabet were established, as were cities and in 776 BC, the Olympic Games. This period also marks the Greek colonization of southern Italy, Sicily and Asia Minor. The art is very formalized, including human figures rendered in geometric shapes.

The Gallery of the Bronze Age Aegean, generously supported by the Hellenic Republic and the Greek Communities of Canada, and the new A.G. Leventis Foundation Gallery of Ancient Cyprus will open on Saturday, November 5, 2005. The galleries work together to tell the story of early Greek and Cypriot cultures before visitors enter the large open Gallery of Greece, where the story of Greece continues with the Archaic, Classical and early Hellenistic periods (600 to 300 BC).

A symposium celebrating the opening of the ROM’s new Gallery of the Bronze Age Aegean and the A.G. Leventis Foundation Gallery of Ancient Cyprus will take place on opening day, Saturday, November 5, 2005. Sponsored by the Hellenic Republic and the Greek Communities of Canada, and the A.G. Leventis Foundation, five free public lectures will be held at the Isabel Bader Theatre (140 Charles Street West, Victoria University in the University of Toronto) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each 40-minute lecture will be illustrated with slides or Powerpoint images. See separate release, “Free Lectures Celebrate Two New Gallery Openings”, for more information.

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