VISITORS to The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece are often surprised to discover that the exhibition includes so much more than simply marble statuary.
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One of the most remarkable aspects of the exhibition is undoubtedly the collection of ancient gold jewellery dating from as early as 400 BCE.
The exhibition includes a gold bracelet featuring figurative bulls’ heads, with collars inlaid with garnet. There are gold earrings with tiny female figurines and an Eros figure, a golden necklace with beech-nut pendants and a diadem comprised of twisted ribbons of gold, a circular garnet and enamel details.
The standout piece in this collection is an Etruscan funerary wreath (pictured) from the Classical Period, which, in the tomb, could symbolise the victory of an immortal soul over death. The binding of the head in a circlet was also an image of the completion of the lifecycle.
In instances where the deceased died young and unmarried, the funerary wreath could substitute for the wedding wreath and betoken the married life that had been denied by premature death.
The Etruscans flourished between the eighth and first centuries BCE, in what is now a region of central Italy, and were famed in antiquity for being devoutly religious, for their metalworking, their love of music and banqueting, and the independence they allowed their women.
They took great pleasure in creating and wearing ostentatious gold jewellery.
During the Archaic and Classical periods (between the sixth and the fourth centuries BCE) Etruscan goldsmiths produced less flamboyant jewellery, much influenced by contemporary Greek styles, and Etruscan jewellery of the later Hellenistic period (the third to the first centuries BCE) is often indistinguishable from that of the Greek world.
The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece is on until November 9.
For tickets, contact the Box Office on 5434 6100, or go to www.bodybeautifulbendigo.com