Exhibition on 17-19th century travelers

Sep 08, 2015 — Oct 08, 2016 • Category: Events

An interesting temporary exhibition has opened at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens since September 8th, 2015. The exhibition is entitled A dream among splendid ruins... Strolling through the Athens of travelers, 17th-19th century and will last until October 8th, 2016. In fact, in 2016 the National Archaeological Museum celebrates 150 years since its foundation. With this new exhibition, the Museum aims to bring out the special cultural and historical environment which led to its founding, history and activities.
Visitors to this exhibition will take a stroll with the European travelers who took the Grand Tour to Athens and other places of Greece. In fact, from the 17th to the 19th century, many European travelers, inspired by their love for the Greek classicism, would depart from their countries and come to explore Greece. They would also record down their narrations from their strolls around Greece as well as create paintings and poems inspired by their adventures. many of which survive until today.
22 illustrated travel publications and 14 original works of art, such as oil paintings, engravings and watercolours, are presented in the exhibition and give a better view of the travellers' readings. 35 marble sculptures from the storehouses of the National Archaeological Museum are presented in the exhibition for the first time, adding to the narrative of the impressive history and topography of Athens. We can get an idea of what 17th-19th century travelers to Athens would see from ancient antiquities and how daily life would look like. Some works of art of the exhibition are on loan from the Museum of the City of Athens and the General State Archives of Greece.
More information at: National Archaeological Museum of Greece