| Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia | |
| A Special Exhibition Catalogue Review by Stan Parchin |
Curtis, John E. and Nigel Tallis (eds.), et al.
Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia (exh. cat.).
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005.
ISBN No. 0520247310
Hardcover, $49.95 (US)
London's British Museum recently exhibited Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia to much critical acclaim. Some 460 impressive works of ancient Iranian art were culled from four international collections: the National Museum in Tehran, Iran's Persepolis Museum, Paris' Musée du Louvre and the British Museum. The exhibition's easily attainable catalogue vividly describes the artistic accomplishments of the Persian Empire's Achaemenid rulers during more than two centuries of the dynasty's reign (550-330 B.C.). Enthusiasts and scholars of ancient Near Eastern art will be delighted to add this volume to their libraries. The exhibition's next stop is at the Caixa Forum in Barcelona, Spain. Unfortunately, there are no plans for this phenomenal show to come to the United States.
The exhibition's 272-page, hardcover catalogue describes the art and civilization of Achaemenid Persia in 12 neat chapters. It includes color photographs of the works of art exhibited, supplemented by black & white illustrations. Images of the monumental sculptures too massive for inclusion in the show, along with their appropriate descriptions, amplify the text. They help to situate the exhibition's objects historically within the broader context of Achaemenid imperial art. The editors' eloquent essays, with contributions by a cadre of 15 international authorities, focus on topics such as: palace architecture; jewelry and personal adornment; the decorative arts; and religious beliefs and practices represented in art of the period. The catalogue includes two color maps, an updated king list, glossary and bibliography.
Persia's Achaemenid Dynasty derives its name from Achaemenes, its semilegendary founder. The civilization's historical record from 1000 B.C. to 600 B.C. remains essentially silent until the rise of Cyrus II (r. 550-530 B.C.). During the reign of Cyrus the Great, Persia expanded west and northwest beyond the boundaries of present-day Iran to include Babylonia, some of the Aegean Islands and Anatolia (Asia Minor, known as modern-day Turkey). Cyrus' son, Cambyses (r. 530-522 B.C.), soon compelled pharaonic Egypt and the island of Cyprus to accept Persian rule. His empire achieved its geographic apogee during the tenure of Darius I (r. 522-486 B.C.). Eventually, Darius' rule reached from the Aral Sea to the Persian Gulf. It also extended from the Nile River's first cataract (waterfall) to the Indus River Valley, with political influence having stretched to the eastern outskirts of the Greek mainland.
Darius' empire encompassed many cultures. Both he and his son, Xerxes (r. 485-465 B.C.), used foreign civilizations' individual artistic strengths to promote their regal authority through carefully articulated sculptural programmes, resulting in remarkable feats of monumental art and architecture. This is most evident in the relief sculptures from the terraced apadana or audience hall of the palace at Persepolis (ca. 518-460 B.C.). (Persepolis, Susa and Pasargadae were Persia's three capital cities.) Darius enlisted skilled native, Egyptian, Ionian Greek and Mesopotamian artisans to construct his large-scale buildings. The overall effect was intentionally overwhelming. Darius' palace was an architectural amalgam of Egyptian, ancient Near Eastern and Greek styles, shrewdly designed to reflect artistically the cosmopolitan nature of his empire.
Stone Relief Showing Gift-bearers with a Vase from Persepolis was carved during the reign of Artaxerxes I (465-424 B.C.), Xerxes' son. Reminiscent of high-relief sculpture from the palace at Persepolis during Darius' reign, this sculptural fragment, remarkably preserved, portrays a pair of dutiful offering bearers. Each faces right and is carved in strict profile. Beards combed vertically, the right-hand figure's stylized coiffure is neatly braided. The diminutive figure lithely carries a vase, perhaps in a gesture of offering and/or obeisance to, presumably, a Persian ruler whose image is presently lost.
Stone Relief Showing Gift-bearers with a Vase
Achaemenid Persian
Persepolis
H. 36 cm, W 44 cm
Persepolis Museum, Iran
© British Museum
The catalogue describes architectural remnants from Susa, another of Persia's three capitals. From that city has survived the carved effigy of a guard from a glazed brick wall, its reassembly a remarkable feat of modern conservation. Wearing an elaborate outfit, a bearded stoic soldier is pictured, armed with a bow and quiver, holding a spear upright. Light blue bricks of the sculpture's recessed background, imitating faience (an Egyptian blue stone), allow the Persian soldier's detailed polychromed image to emerge dramatically from the composition's glazed brickwork.
Polychrome Glazed Brick Panel Showing a Guard
Achaemenid Persian (Late 6th Century B.C.)
Susa (southwest Iran)
H. 189 cm, W. 70 cm
British Museum, ANE 132525
© British Museum
Rhytons, ceremonial drinking vessels usually ending in the shape of an animal, were popular in ancient Persia and parts of the Mediterranean world. Forbidden Empires... describes four metallic ones in the exhibition, demonstrating the Persians' artistic flair for metalwork. In a singularly exquisite example of Persian silverwork, the protome or base of a fluted rhyton features a delicately crafted, horned and winged griffin (a mythological creature combining a lion's body and eagle's wings). The overtly bestial imagery in this work of superb craftsmanship, possibly intended for ceremonial use, suggests that the Achaemenid Persians, like their ancient Near Eastern forebears, merged diverse animal forms to display power and authority.
Fluted Horn-shaped Rhyton with Partial Gilding
Achaemenid Persian (5th-4th Century B.C.)
Said to be found near Erzincan, now in eastern Turkey
Silver
H. 23 cm, Diam. 14.5 cm (rim)
British Museum, ANE 124081
© British Museum
Examples of ancient weaponry, finely crafted and now considered works of art, are included in Forgotten Empire... Among the items described in the catalogue is a slightly damaged gold dagger from Iran's National Museum. Decorated remnants of its scabbard (protective cover), part of The British Museum's famed Oxus Treasure, have been reunited with the actual weapon for the first time in this show. The knife's decorative handle ends in the voracious devouring mouths of two, almost identical ferocious lions, a distinct parallel to Persia's two-headed animal capitals that surmounted the columns of the palace at Persepolis. This same double imagery is mimicked in the blade's hilt or top, surmounted by a pair of gentle ibex, delicately incised.
Dagger with Lion-headed Handle and Ibex-headed Hilt
Achaemenid Persian (5th-4th Century B.C.)
Said to be from Hamadan
Gold
L. 41.27 cm, W. 10.47 cm
National Museum of Iran
© British Museum
Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia, reveals how the Achaemenid Persian rulers embraced the artistic accomplishments of foreign civilizations and absorbed them into their culture. The catalogue is a valuable resource for those interested in ancient Near Eastern art. Its scholarly essays are exceedingly good (including those that are translated into English). The book lacks an index. And a number of the artworks pictured are described minimally in their captions. This leaves the generalist, having read the insightful text, craving more information about the ancient Persian Empire.
For further reading:
Harper, Prudence O., Joan Aruz and Françoise Tallon (eds.), et al. The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre (exh. cat.).
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992.
Mousavi, Ali. "Why Darius Built Persepolis." Archaeology Odyssey Nov./Dec. 2005: 22-35, 51.
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From your Guide: Stan Parchin, Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions, is a specialist in ancient, late-medieval and Renaissance art and history, and a regular contributor to About Art History. You may read all of his Special Exhibition and Catalogue Reviews here.
