Pharaoh Ancient Egypt Exhibition at NGV-FINAL DAYS
Curated especially for the National Gallery of Victoria by the British Museum as part of the Victorian Government’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces® series, Pharaoh is the largest international exhibition the British Museum has ever presented in its 270-year history. With many works on display in Australia for the very first time, this Melbourne-exclusive presentation constitutes the single largest ancient Egyptian exhibition ever mounted in this country.
Curated especially for the National Gallery of Victoria by the British Museum as part of the Victorian Government’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces® series, Pharaoh is the largest international exhibition the British Museum has ever presented in its 270-year history. With many works on display in Australia for the very first time, this Melbourne-exclusive presentation constitutes the single largest ancient Egyptian exhibition ever mounted in this country.
Spanning from the 1st Dynasty (c.3000 BCE) to the Roman period (3rd century CE), Pharaoh explores the fascinating lives, myths and images of the successive rulers of ancient Egypt through meticulously crafted examples of art, design and architecture. The works on display were commissioned by and celebrate some of Egypt’s most famous kings and queens, including the boy king Tutankhamun; Ramses II and Queen Nefertari; Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza; as well as foreign leaders such as Alexander the Great.
From small sacred sculptures, to monuments of colossal scale, the pharaohs presented an idealised image of themselves as invincible warriors who defended Egypt and maintained the order of the universe. The exhibition will highlight the art and artistry of ancient Egypt and give audiences an appreciation of the artistic skill of ancient Egyptian sculptors, painters and craftspeople, whose lives were largely spent working in service of the pharaoh.
Highlights of the exhibition include a number of works depicting ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses, including a group of ten impressive lion-headed statues representing the goddess Sekhmet (c.1350 BCE). Sekhmet was the goddess of war and pestilence, and the pharaoh Amenhotep III commissioned hundreds of statues of this goddess for his mortuary temple at Thebes in an effort to appease her. The display constitutes one of the the largest groupings of Sekhmet statues from the British Museum’s collection ever to be on display at one time.
Pharaoh is on display from 14 June – 6 October 2024 at NGV International on St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Admission fees apply. Tickets and information are available via the NGV website: NGV.MELBOURNE
National Gallery of Victoria
180 St Kilda Road Melbourne VIC 3004
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