NEW YORK.- The Onassis Foundation (USA) brings more than two hundred precious exhibits to New York, many never seen by the public, as part of the exhibition "Alexander the Great: Treasures from an Epic Era of Hellenism."

At center stage is Alexander, with expressive portraits of him of superb quality from the Athenian Acropolis and the capital city of ancient Macedonia, Pella. A fine bronze statuette from Herculaneum, Italy, shows the king on horseback—in a theatrical moment the horse rears, emphasizing the dramatic action of his master. Golden medallions with amazing depictions of Alexander, Phillip II, and Olympias testify to the rebirth of interest in Alexander in the Roman Empire of the third century a.d.

In addition, the exhibition sheds light on the daily life of the men and women that were Alexander’s people. Weaponry of Alexander's army—already famous in antiquity— such as an original sarissa, a spear five meters in length, introduced by Alexander's father Phillip II; an extensive range of tableware of the Macedonian symposia, and rich dresses, jewellery, and adornments of the Macedonian women provide the setting for a better understanding of Alexander's milieu.

The exhibition closes with unique finds from a recently excavated tomb of Vergina, including gold plates, golden fibulae, and ribbons from the dresses of a deceased "queen" that prefigure the onset of Alexander's era some 150 years later.

"Alexander the Great: Treasures from an Epic Era of Hellenism" unites objects from major archaeological Museums in Greece, including the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Dion Archaeological Museum, Museum at the Royal Tombs of Vergina, Pella Archaeological Museum, and Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum; from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France; as well as objects from The American Numismatic Society, New York; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass.; Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, California; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey; The Saint Louis Art Museum; and The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

The Onassis Cultural Center collaborated with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture to bring together objects from the collections of the Acropolis Museum, the Pella Archaeological Museum, Museum at the Royal Tombs of Aigai (Vergina), the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum, and the Pydna Excavations collection at the Thessaloniki Museum, the Dion Archaeological Museum, the Kilkis Archaeological Museum, and the Polygiros Archaeological Museum in Greece. Alexander the Great: Treasures from an Epic Era of Hellenism also inlcudes objects from the American Numismatic Society, New York, Harvard University Art Museums, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Indiana Unviersity Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Princeton University Art Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, Stanford University, the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, the Archaeological Museum of Napoli, Italy and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.