Pharaohs, Maybe

From the Sunken Treasures exhibit. These may have been pharaohs or other high officials. The stylized cobra on the forehead is the giveaway.       

       

Sunken Treasure

The current main exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum is something special. Sunken Cities is a collection of objects found submerged in the Mediterranean, the remainders of two coastal cities that sank under the waters due to subsidence and geological events. According to the museum's web site

In 2018, the Saint Louis Art Museum will be the first North American art museum to tell the epic story of one of the greatest finds in the history of underwater archaeology, a story that revealed two lost cities of ancient Egypt submerged under the Mediterranean Sea for over a thousand years. World-renowned underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team discovered these submerged worlds and uncovered stunning ancient religious, ceremonial, and commercial artifacts, which has led to a greater understanding of life during the age of pharaohs.

The show is stunning. This small plaque from the 6th Century BC shows the god Amun in the form of a ram.  And it just keeps coming.

Snowsuit

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A guest post today from team member ShadowyOne:

Going along with the "snowy statues" theme, Thursday afternoon your guest poster ShadowyOne was at Art Hill in Forest Park, a famous local spot for sledding. The sledding hill is always mobbed after any snowstorm. Though I took plenty of crowd/sledding scenes, every time I go to the Art Museum after it snows, I always find myself attracted to the way the snow collects in the laps of the two seated statues flanking the main entrance.

Words of Wisdom

The inscription over the back entrance to the Saint Louis Art Museum reads "Art still has truth. Take refuge there." Do you buy it?

Here's my take: art has no direct connection to truth and everything to do with the individual experience. It is the indispensable way to share the subjective. For the hard stuff, the testable, approximately reliable, we need science. Our National Public Radio network has a weekly essay feature called "This I Believe." If I ever wrote one, I'd call it Arts & Sciences.

What's your view?

TOMORROW: Eyewitness News

Dedicated to Art and Free to All

As my father draws a lot of inspiration from the Arch (near which he works in downtown Saint Louis), I draw a lot of inspiration from the many and varied attractions in Forest Park. I attended high school a stone's throw away from the Missouri Historical Society Museum in the park; since becoming an adult, I have lived in the Central West End neighborhood near the park for over five years. Almost all of the atrractions in Forest Park are free: the title of this post is the motto of the Art Museum. Even though admission is free (supported by donations and taxes), many of the museums and attractions are truly world-class (see my first post regarding the Saint Louis Zoo).

This was taken at dusk from the front of the Art Museum, and just slightly down the steep hill below (known city-wide as a fabulous place for sledding in the wintertime). The statue at the right is Louis IX himself.

Tomorrow: even more sultry lighting (I can't get enough)