A good review of To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, U.S. until January 11th 2009. I wish that I could go. Here's an extract:
Unlike other large shows of Egyptian antiquities I have seen, this one is not intended to inspire awe. It gives us a sense of how real people coped with the exigencies of life and aspirations in death. Because so much time is covered, we also see how many practices changed. And though it dwells on the nonrich a lot, most of the objects belonged to those with some means. The poorest people probably could not afford even a simple coffin.
The Brooklyn Museum, which organized the show from its own enormous, world-famous collection, sent few objects made of precious metals and gems. But I really like the show. It has a clear mission and makes sense of the carved stones and old statues that tend to make our eyes glaze over in many antiquities shows. The wall labels are especially well done and the catalog, for sale in the museum store, has a wonderful essay about the cost of a funeral.
See the above page for the entire review, with photograph.
The museum's website is at http://www.ringling.org/
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