Exhibition: In the Shadow of the Pyramids

The Art Newspaper

11 Nov 11 – 25 Mar 12 2011
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
Dantes Plads 7, Copenhagen DK-1556, Denmark
+45 33 41 81 41
www.glyptoteket.dk

As one of the sponsors of Petrie’s Egyptian’s expeditions, the Carlsberg Foundation was the recipient of a large number of artefacts unearthed in the early decades of the 20th century.

“Cairo kept the unique and most complete objects and Petrie was allowed to take the rest,” says the scholar, Tine Bagh, who led the project.

“My job was to document the finds and investigate why we [the Glyptotek] ended up with some items while others went to Boston or Brussels.” The show will present the finds from the museum’s permanent collection, many of which are not normally on view, and aims to make new connections with artefacts excavated by Petrie in other museum’s ­collections.

“I want the objects to come alive,” Bagh says. “They are not just isolated pieces but an integral part of tombs and temples.” Two key discoveries ­resulting from Bagh’s ­research will be highlighted in the exhibition.

A limestone crown in the Glyptotek’s collection from Hawara, Egypt, has been matched to the head and torso of a crocodile god (Sobek) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.