3 February 2019

Story about beauty mediated through a scenery with Aphrodite and the three Charites, seen at the upcoming exhibition 'Antike Bilderwelten' at MKG-Hamburg

From 19 February until 2 June 2019 at the exhibition 'Antike Bilderwelten' (transl. 'Antique Picture Worlds'), MKG-Hamburg will provide insights into story telling techniques practised in Athens, Greece by vase makers in the era from the 6th until 4th century BC. Around 80 artefacts of vases (contained food, wine, oils,...) will be on display such as the one showing 'Aphrodite' (goddess of love and beauty; in Roman mythology goddess 'Venus') with the three minor goddesses 'Charites' (or Graces, in Roman 'Gratiae') wearing chitons (long dresses). Perhaps the vase was made as vessel for body oil, pomade or perfume. Ancient Greek women celebrated their daily bath routines and hair styling inclusively curling, dyeing and the application of nets, hair pieces or diadems. For costume and culture historians, artefacts like vases or written texts are the only sources for research on clothing and rituals like bathing as original materials (textiles, perfumes,...) aren't preserved from the times of ancient Greece.

It's announced that the exhibition 'Antike Bilderwelten' will introduce into the visual codes of the stories depicted at the vases; from the recognition of characters such as Aphrodite to the interplay between specific codes such as the movements of characters, the scenery and symbolic objects. Visitors will learn to read the antique images like animated picture films. In many cases, the visual content of the vases is built upon simultaneously narrated stories depicted in one image.

fig.: The goddess Aphrodite with the three Charites, Kalpis Class of Brussels A 3099 (detail), Attic red figure, around 410 B.C., Collection Zimmermann Inv. 26, © Photo: Joachim Hiltmann.

Editors note: Essays by Harold Koda (Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) such as 'The Chiton, Peplos, and Himation in Modern Dress' with reference to couturiers like Paul Poiret provide insights into Ancient Greek culture.

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