Alexander exhibition at the Louvre, Paris

« Au Royaume d’Alexandre le Grand. La Macédoine Antique. » Quite a mouthful for an exhibition, but definitely one that was worth to be seen. Such a pity it ran for so short a period of time (from 13 October 2011 to 16 January 2012) and I wasn’t able to visit the Louvre till near the very end. Consequently, there was no point in sharing my impressions any time soon.

I found the title of this exhibition rather confusing: was it about Alexander the Great or was it about Macedonia? Well, in the end, it was about both, of course, but the accent was set around old Macedonia, and it was a well-deserved recommendation. Today like in antiquity it seems that Macedonia is some kind of stepchild, not entirely part of Greece or worthy to be part of it. The excavations of the past thirty years or so prove much to the contrary.

The very first excavations date back to 1861, when two French archaeologists (of course, we are referring to France and the French here!), Léon Heuzey and Henri Daumet made their first discoveries under close watch of the Ottoman rulers. They uncovered the remains of the Royal Palace of Aegae, not knowing that this was Aegae, the old Macedonian capital, in what is called today Vergina. After that, we have to wait till after the First World War when Konstantinos Rhomaios started new diggings in the area in 1920. He is the one who put Pella on the map, the second capital of Macedonia, about 25 kilometers further inland than expected because of the silting up of the Axios River. He also discovered several tombs in the Vergina area. By far the largest and most sensational discovery happened in 1977 when Manolis Andronicos localized the unspoiled Tomb of King Philip II, Alexander’s father. Huge quantities of precious gifts were found in his burial chamber as well as in the nearby tombs underneath this same tumulus. In the wake of this discovery, other promising diggings were generally started elsewhere.

Strangely enough, new finds show that the art in archaic Macedonia was closely akin to what we have seen in Mycene, here only one hundred years later. Clear traces of this influence can be found mainly in the area of Pieria, in the westerly region. But meanwhile, it is obvious that the so-called Hellenistic art first and for all originated here in Aegae and in Pella at the court of the Kings and in the houses of the Macedonian elite. As early as the 5th century, the Macedonian Kings attracted notable artists like Zeuxis of Heraclea who decorated the Palace of King Archelaus, or Euripides who wrote his Iphigenia in Aulis, Archelaus, and The Bacchantes here. Later on, we find more famous artists at the Court of Pella, like Lysippos, the official sculptor of Alexander, and Apelles, his official court painter; but also top painters like Aristides of Thebe or Philoxenus of Eretria. Even if the names had come to us, we still had no idea about the quality of their work till the now famous frescos in the Tomb of Persephone were discovered in Vergina; they give a totally unexpected image of their craft, in this case, the skills of Nicomachus of Thebe – a most lively and unique testimony. Wall paintings from the houses in Pella on the other hand turn out to be of such high quality and colour that they are considered as the precursors of the Pompeian style, which we meet in Pompeii – yet five centuries later!

The Louvre has done a thorough job with this exhibition and they have not limited themselves to collecting a random amount of objects from the Greek Museums. It all starts right at the entrance with a splendid copy of the pebble mosaic showing a lion hunt with Alexander on the left and Craterus to the right. A great welcome from homeland Macedonia!

I recently traveled through Macedonia myself visiting many of the museums and seeing all these objects over here was like meeting old friends again. Pure out of memory, the following is what I remember having seen again in Paris (the Louvre didn’t allow any pictures!)

• From the Museum in Aiani (Pieria), clay figures and vases;
• From Vergina, silver jars, a bronze lamp, gold crowns with delicate leaves and flowers or tied with Heracles’ knot;
• From Amphipolis, a multicolored vase, a dashing terracotta dancer and a true-to-life painted head of a terracotta woman;
• From Polygoros, one of the arrows engraved with “Philippou”, i.e. with the compliments of Philip (used during the siege of Olynthus);
• From Veroia, the intriguing bust of Olganos of Kopanos which reminded me of Alexander;
• From Pella, molds for terracotta statues and finished clay statuettes, pots, and jars found around the Agora, earthenware roof decorations, and pieces of burial furniture in wood, bone, and ivory;
• From Dion, a striking relief of Demeter;
• From Thessaloniki where evidently most of the objects came from, with gold masks in the style of Agamemnon; bronze helmets with or without a gold trimming; an earthenware pyxis painted with a garland of flowers on a black background; gold jewelry like bracelets, necklaces, earrings, fibulae, etc; gold, silver and bronze coins; a lovely bronze medallion of Athena in high relief; the painted inside walls of a tomb; etc.
• From the Louvre, a small bronze Alexander with spear (not very resembling); a drum and capitals of columns from Aegae (brought back by Heuzey and Daumet but apparently never exhibited) which are now placed in the frame of a life-size drawing of the colonnades surrounding the central square of the Palace of Aegae. It’s as if you are truly walking inside. In the very center, I find the head of Young Alexander from the Museum of Pella.

Also, a showcase filled with Greek vases, bowls, drinking vessels, pots, and jars, all beautifully decorated, of course. And all around this on the walls, I recognize pictures of the frescos from different tombs in and around Vergina, Pella, and Lefkadia.

The Louvre has unveiled more hidden treasures from their catacombs, i.e. remains from the Palace of the Roman Emperor Galerius (305-311 AD) who promoted Thessaloniki to the capital of his tetrarchy. These are tall square marble pillars, approximately two meters high with on the front and back a relief of a recognizable figure, like a Manead, Victory, Dionysos, Aura, Ariane, one of the Dioscuri, Leda with the Swan, and Ganymedes. The building to which the pillars belonged is called “Incantada” and once stood at the northern entrance to the Agora of Thessaloniki. This is all new to me and very revealing.

At this stage, I wonder why Alexander the Great is supposed to be the central personage of this exhibition since besides the head from Pella and the scanty bronze statue with the lost lance I haven’t seen him. He turns out to be the surprise, probably meant to be the very climax … not very successful, if you ask me! When I’m about ready to leave I discover a rather narrow window in a black box where Alexander is waiting for me. Gee, why cramp him behind this one window? They could have put him in a full-size showcase entirely made of glass, no? Anyway, this is where I find the true treasures of the entire exhibition (in my eyes, that is, of course), Alexander in person! For a start, there is the most striking Azara Hermes from the Louvre – after all, this is a copy of an original made by nobody less than Lysippos! Also Alexander as Pan from the Museum in Pella, the Guimet Alexander from the Louvre, a torso that is being attributed to him, and an inscription from Thessaloniki of which I remember nothing. And finally, at the very corner of this same dark showcase, a long narrow glass étagère with the gold medallions of his Royal parents, King Philip II of Macedonia and Queen Olympias – precious pieces shoveled away in an almost forgotten corner. True sacrilege, I would say!