10:00 Exhibition opens
16:00 Free admission to the museum
17:00 Free welcome beer in the Winter Garden
17:15 Welcome by the Director of the Glyptotek, Gertrud Hvidberg-Hansen (in Danish)
17:20 Introduction to the exhibition by curator Anna Wirenfeldt Minor (in Danish)
To mark the exhibition opening, admission to the museum will be free from 4.00 pm.
Augustinus Fonden and Beckett-Fonden
5 February at 5-6 PM
Join the opening of the Glyptotek’s new permanent exhibition on Palmyra, the Syrian oasis city that flourished as a hub for trade between the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire and the trade routes of the Silk Road.
Based on the museum’s unique collection of Palmyrene funerary portraits – the largest beyond Syria – the exhibition tells the story of a city where east meets west and the local and global merge to create a culture that was cosmopolitan yet deeply rooted in the city’s unique traditions.
The funerary portraits, which once stood shoulder to shoulder in magnificent family burial chambers, show the people of Palmyra as they wished to be remembered: with elegant hairstyles, wearing glittering jewellery and dressed in exclusive fabrics. Bilingual inscriptions in Armenian and Greek testify to a society where the formation of identity bridged language and tradition.
The beauty of the desert city was a focus of early European interest. From the expeditions of the 18th century to the mapping of the 19th century, Palmyra was key to conceptions of the Near East. The funerary portraits found their way to museums and private collections, including the Glyptotek. Today they bear witness to the glory of Palmyra and the period that brought them to Western art collections.
In recent times Palmyra has again become the focus of global attention. The destruction wrought by the Syrian civil war was a reminder of the vulnerability of cultural heritage – and its continued importance. The exhibition at the Glyptotek sees Palmyra through the portraits: their traces of life and connections that traverse time and place, taking us from the burial chambers of Palmyra to the museum galleries of Europe and the stories that emerge when cultural heritage crosses borders.