Tampa Bay Metro Magazine

Magic Of Ancient Egypt Transforms

The Museum Of Fine Arts

egypt

LEFT: A Head of a Ram, Wood with black-and-white stone inlays and bronze additions, Dynasty XXV-XXVII, 745-404 BC, Collection of the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art — ©Sandra Pointet; RIGHT: Sphinx, Limestone with traces of red pigment,
Ptolemaic Period, 305-30 BC, Collection of the Fondation

Few civilizations have captured the imaginations of museum-goers to the extent that ancient Egypt has. Recall King Tut's gold-encrusted mummy case or the graceful neck of Queen Nephertiti, immortalized in a sculptural bust -- objects that have become famous to Western art lovers. Beautiful, evocative and ingeniously crafted, such artifacts leave us marveling at the past and evidence of a world so different from ours and so richly complex.

In December, the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, debuts an exhibition showcasing dramatic treasures from the land of the pharaohs: mummy sarcophagi, a limestone sphinx, tomb and temple reliefs, and precious objects made by the craftsmen of Egypt's antiquity. Ancient Egypt— Art and Magic: Treasures from the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art/Geneva features more than 100 works from the prestigious Switzerland-based collection. Dr. Robert Steven Bianchi, an accomplished Egyptologist, has curated the exhibition especially for the MFA.

The exhibit's array of sacred works sheds light on the history, politics and religion of ancient Egypt. A six-and-a-half foot tall mummy case inlaid with precious materials attests to the power of one Hor-Em-Akhet, while stone sculptures and tomb reliefs commemorate the reigns of Rameses the Great, Rameses III and other nobles. A temple relief fragment pays homage to Alexander the Great, ancient Egypt's fourth century conqueror.

A complimentary exhibition -- Forever in a Moment: Nineteenth-Century Photographs of Egypt -- features more than 40 images of the country made in the decades after photography's birth. Highlights include pictures of Egypt's landscape and ancient monuments by Armenian photographer G. Lekegian as well as images by European photographers. Of the latter, both British-Italian photographer Antonio Beato and Frenchman Félix Bonfils lived and worked in the Middle East during the 1800s. Their photos brought experiences of distant Egypt back to European viewers.

Ancient Egypt -- Art and Magic: Treasures from the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art/Geneva runs Dec. 17, 2011 -Apr. 29, 2012, with a lecture by curator Dr. Robert Steven Bianchi on Sun., Dec. 18, 3 p.m. Forever in a Moment: Nineteenth-Century Photographs of Egypt runs Nov. 19, 2011 - Apr. 10, 2012. The Museum of Fine Arts is located at 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg.

For more information, call 727-896-2667 or go to www.fine-arts.org.

—Megan Voeller

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