INDIANAPOLIS.- The Indianapolis Museum of Art will premiere Roman Art from the Louvre, an exhibition of works from the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France, which will be on view from September 23, 2007 to January 6, 2008. Featuring 184 works drawn from the Louvre’s unparalleled collection of Roman art, the exhibition includes mosaics, frescoes, terracotta statuettes, monumental sculptures, sarcophagi, marble reliefs, glass and metal vessels, and gold jewelry, most of which have never traveled to the United States. Organized thematically, the exhibition examines everyday Roman public and private life through different lenses, including religion, urbanism, war, imperial expansion, funerary practices, intellectual life, and family.

The largest traveling exhibition of works ever drawn from the Louvre’s collections, Roman Art from the Louvre is organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Musée du Louvre. The exhibition is supported locally by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. Following its presentation in Indianapolis, the exhibition will travel to the Seattle Art Museum and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

“Roman Art from the Louvre gives us the remarkable opportunity to bring treasured works from the Louvre’s unrivaled Roman art collections to Indianapolis,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, Director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. “In addition to sharing these extraordinary antiquities with our audiences, we are collaborating on a number of great initiatives that will harness technological innovations, including streaming video and social computing, to create a more interactive, enhanced visitor experience.”

Roman Art from the Louvre traces the genealogy of the four main Roman dynasties – the Julio-Claudians, the Antonines, the Severans, and the family of Constantine – through an examination of works made between the first century BC and the early fourth century AD. The exhibition will include a section devoted to non-citizens of Rome: foreigners, freedmen, and slaves, and will also examine the role of women during this period. The exhibition will close with ancient statues that have been repeatedly repaired and altered since the Renaissance, reflecting both the ongoing interest in Roman art and the way in which it has been collected, interpreted and restored over the centuries. Exhibition highlights include:

• relief sculptures from Emperor Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli;
• busts of prominent Roman leaders including Marcus Aurelius, and Agrippa;
• statues of the emperors Augustus, Caligula, and Trajan
• imperial rings, necklaces, and earrings;
• statues of Isis, Venus, Minerva, and Bacchus;
• early depictions of theatrical scenes, portraits of actors, and theatrical masks;
• military diplomas and army medallions;
• sarcophagi, urns, and related ritual objects; and
• household objects found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

“This is the first exhibition in the IMA’s 124-year history to feature the fabled art of ancient Rome from the most renowned art museum in the world,” said Martin Krause, project manager for the exhibition at IMA. “From monumental sculptures to precious objects, the works will be sure to resonate with visitors, as the legacy of ancient Rome remains deeply embedded in our art, architecture, culture, and society even after 2,000 years.”