Exhibition of masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum's acclaimed Egyptian collection opens in Dallas
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, December 3, 2024


Exhibition of masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum's acclaimed Egyptian collection opens in Dallas
Stela with the Gods Bes and Tutu, 332–30 B.C.E. Limestone. Overall: 10 7/16 x 18 3/4 x 3 9/16 in., 47.4 lb. (26.5 x 47.7 x 9 cm, 21.5kg). Brooklyn Museum. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 58.98.



DALLAS, TX.- Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt showcases the diverse representations of felines from the world-famous Egyptian holdings of the Brooklyn Museum. From domesticated cats to mythic symbols of divinities, felines played an important role in ancient Egyptian imagery for thousands of years. The exhibition, which explores the roles of cats, lions, and other feline creatures in Egyptian mythology, kingship, and everyday life, is on view October 9, 2016, through January 8, 2017, at the Dallas Museum of Art.

“We are pleased to be able to share these ancient Egyptian artifacts from the Brooklyn Museum’s remarkable holdings with the North Texas community,” said Dr. Agustín Arteaga, the Museum’s Eugene McDermott Director. “This exhibition examines the relationship ancient Egyptians had with cats, which shares many commonalities with today’s society, as well as exploring the role cats played in mythology and the afterlife.”

Likely first domesticated in ancient Egypt, cats were revered for their fertility and valued for their ability to protect homes and granaries from vermin. But felines were also associated with royalty and closely linked with a number of deities. Combining a lion’s body and a king’s head, sphinxes guarded temple entrances and provided protection as temple objects. The ferocious goddess Sakhmet, depicted as a lioness or lion-headed woman, and the goddess Bastet, represented as a cat or a cat-headed woman, together symbolized the duality of feline nature—caring yet dangerous. The male leonine gods Bes and Tutu were popularly worshipped as protectors of fertility, health and fortune.

The exhibition features 80 objects exploring wild and domestic cats, feline deities, cat burial practices and luxury items decorated with feline features, as well as a section on the depiction of canines in ancient Egyptian culture. On public view for the first time in the nationally touring exhibition is an extraordinary gilded Leonine Goddess (770–412 B.C.E.), a lion-headed female crouching on a papyrus-shaped base, which entered the Brooklyn Museum collection in 1937; the statuette was conserved for inclusion in Divine Felines. The exhibition’s cats and feline divinities range from a large limestone sculpture of a recumbent lion (305–30 B.C.E.), to a diminutive bronze sphinx of King Sheshenq (945–718 B.C.E.), to a small cast-bronze figurine of a cat nursing four kittens (664–30 B.C.E.). Also presented are furniture and luxury items, decorated with feline features, in many media, including an alabaster bowl fragment, a wooden spoon, a bronze throne support, and a gold and carnelian necklace.

“Cats were an integral part of life in ancient Egypt, both cherished and keenly observed,” stated Dr. Anne Bromberg, The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art. “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt presents not only the history of the cat’s role in every aspect of the Egyptians’ lives, but also the artistry of the culture. Part of the appeal of all Egyptian art, and certainly of this exhibition, is that you see art made by people who believed you could take it with you into the next life.”

Accompanying the exhibition in the Divine Felines education space is the presentation of a mummy mask from the 1st–2nd century from the DMA’s collection and a 19th Dynasty mummy and cartonnage on loan to the DMA from the Bridwell Library Special Collections at Southern Methodist University. Visitors will also be able to listen to stories of the Egyptian deities, learn about mummifications, and sniff fragrances used in ancient Egyptian rituals in the interactive educational gallery.

The Museum will celebrate Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt during the October 21 Late Night with an evening exploring life in ancient Egypt, cat deities, and the practice of mummification. On Saturday, October 29, Dr. Bromberg and Dr. Kimberly Jones, The Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Assistant Curator of the Arts of the Americas at the DMA, will discuss mummification traditions in ancient Egypt, the Andes and China during a special Boshell Lecture. Additional programs, including gallery talks, will be scheduled throughout the run of the exhibition. For dates, prices, and details, visit DMA.org.

Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt is organized by the Brooklyn Museum. The curator of the Dallas presentation is Dr. Anne R. Bromberg, The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art.










Today's News

October 10, 2016

Exhibition dedicated to the great and mysterious Maya civilization opens in Verona

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, opens landmark exhibition of William Merritt Chase

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam presents Golden Age artist Hercules Segers retrospective

Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibits works by follower of Caravaggio Valentin de Boulogne

Sotheby's London announces rare and exquisite objects in its Arts of the Islamic World sale

Exhibition of masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum's acclaimed Egyptian collection opens in Dallas

Exhibition at Museo del Prado presents different depictions of a single subject: The Immaculate Conception

Portland Art Museum presents the largest Warhol print retrospective ever

Major architectural pavilion launches in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park

Through Dennis Hopper's lens: Paddle8 launches immersive sale

Design: 1900 to Now; Christie's announces design season of sales in London

Jacob Lawrence's famous "Migration Series" reunites at the Phillips Collection

David Zwirner opens exhibition of collaborative works by Marcel Dzama and Raymond Pettibon

Sotheby's announces auction of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art in London

Works by Yu Youren and exceptional Chinese textiles to be offered at Clars Auction Gallery

Wadsworth Atheneum opens first U.S. exhibition by artist Dulce Chacón

MACBA presents its new team and advance programme

Exhibition of large-scale color photographs by Andrew Moore opens at Joslyn Art Museum

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia unveils young Australian artists in Primavera

Sotheby's announces highlights from its 20th Century Art / Middle East auction

The Lehman College Art Gallery presents "Bedazzled"

Contemporary artist Lorenzo Quinn exhibits new sculptures at Halcyon Gallery

Lloyd Hamrol/Joan Perlman: "a sky in the palm of a hand" on view at the Pasadena Museum of California Art

Sotheby's to offer rare & historical miniatures of outstanding provenance




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful