COPENHAGEN.- The Glyptotek presents Egypt - Back to the Source, on view through February 8, 2009. The Glyptotek’s magnificent treasures from Ancient Egypt owe their presence in Copenhagen to brewing magnate and museum founder Carl Jacobsen (1842-1914). He wanted to go back to Ancient Egypt as ‘the source of art’ – the place whence the Greeks and the Romans drew their inspiration and which in turn was passed down to all later Europeans.

The Glyptotek’s collection is one of the fi nest in the world. On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Danish Egyptology, this exhibition tells the story of Jacobsen, his Egyptologist Valdemar Schmidt (1836-1925) and their exploits – from excavations with the English archaeologist Petrie through collaboration with the museum and authorities in Cairo to the display of works back in Copenhagen. Egypt – Back to the Source focuses on a number of the collection’s supreme masterpieces, among them the Black Head of a King which Schmidt bought in Egypt in 1894.