A
particularly crisp and stunning sculpture of
Akhenaten.
Phenomenal Objects from
the Armana Period at the Institute of Chicago
CHICAGO, ILL. - One of the most important international
presentations of Egyptian art and culture in recent times arrives
at the Art Institute of Chicago when "Pharaohs of the Sun:
Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamen" opens at the museum July 17.
The first major exhibition of Egyptian art to travel to the city
in more than 20 years, "Pharaohs of the Sun" is expected to draw
at least 250,000 visitors during its run in the Art Institute's
Regenstein Hall, the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Building, through
September 24.
The exhibit sculpts a vivid portrait of the Amarna period - the
revolutionary age of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Tutankhamen. It
was during this startlingly brief epoch (1353-1336 BC) that
Pharaoh Akhenaten assumed the throne of Egypt at its peak of
imperial glory and - in a dramatic break with his already ancient
culture's three-and-a-half -millennia religious tradition -
established the worship of one god, moving the Egyptian capital
to Amarna, an extraordinary city that he built in the desert.
"Pharaohs of the Sun" is the largest re-assembly of objects from
this prolific time in Egypt's history since the city was
abandoned 3,500 years ago. The exhibition evokes the Amarna Age
with more than 250 works, including both monumental and
small-scale sculptures, as well as reliefs, ceramics, and
household items from public and private collections around the
world. This wealth of precious objects - as well as a remarkable
20-foot, three-dimensional model of the city - will provide
visitors with an intimate view of the daily life and culture of
Amarna, bringing to light its place in Egyptian history and the
dramatic forces that shaped and eventually destroyed it.
Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the exhibit began
its tour in Boston (November 14, 1999 through February 6, 2000) -
where it drew high critical praise and was a sell-out success,
with more demand than tickets available - before traveling to the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (March 19 through June 4, 2000)
and the Art Institute of Chicago, and thence to the Rijksmuseum
Leiden, The Netherlands (November 23, 2000 through February 18,
2001).
Ancient Egypt has held a powerful fascination for peoples around
the world for more than 2,000 years; today, as much as at any
time, there is enormous popular interest in the mystery and
complexity of Egyptian art and culture. The sheer antiquity of
the civilization is almost unfathomable to modern man - located
in the valley of the longest river on earth, between two deserts,
Egypt was the seat of one of the worlds earliest complex
cultures. The length and continuity of the civilization is
equally staggering, beginning with a predynastic period about
5000 BD, and lasting almost unbroken until the Fourth Century BC.
Within the broad span of ancient Egypt's history, one era has
engendered the greatest interest: the Amarna period (1353-1336
BC), the age of Akhenaten (originally Amenhotep IV), Nefertiti,
and Tutankhamen. It was during this time that the New Kingdom
pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti elected to abandon
Egypt's age-old multitude of deities in favor of a single god -
the disk of the sun, known as Aten. The pharaoh, his family,
court, and many subjects withdrew from the centuries-old
traditional capitals at Thebes and Memphis and founded a new
center for his new age at the site of present-day Amarna, called
Akhenaten, the "Horizon of the Sun Disk."
This spectacular planned and rapidly built city - which boasted a
population of between 20 and 50 thousand at its height - was a
place of magnificent temples and sumptuous palaces brightly
decorated with paintings and tiles, gardens, pools, private
houses, and tombs. But, soon after the king's death, in 1336 BC
his radical vision was quashed - the worship of many gods
restored, Memphis and Thebes returned to their status as
political and religious capitals, and Amarna abandoned - mostly
under the rule of the "Boy King," Tutankhamen, who, some believe,
was Akhenaten's son.
A 320-page exhibition catalogue, published by the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, in association with Bullfinch Press/Little, Brown
and Company, accompanies the exhibition.
Dated, timed tickets are required for the exhibition and are
available at the museum, through the museum's website
(www.artic.edu), and by phone, 312/930-4040. The Art Institute of
Chicago is located at 111 South Michigan Avenue. Museum hours are
10:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and
holidays; 10:30 am to 8 pm Tuesday; 10 am to 5 pm Saturday and
Sunday. For information, 312/443-3600.
