Ephesus Museum
The collection of the Ephesus Museum , which has existed since the end of the 19th century, is part of the collection of antiques at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna . Since December 1978 it has had independent rooms in the Neue Burg . Before the Ephesus Museum was established, the exhibits were provisionally exhibited in several places, including at times in the Theseus Temple in the Volksgarten .
Ephesus , located on the Turkish Aegean coast, was one of the largest cities in the ancient world and is now one of the most visited tourist destinations in Turkey . Since 1895, Austrian archaeologists have been researching the ruins of the city under the direction of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) , interrupted only by the two world wars . Sultan Abdülhamid II gave Emperor Franz Josef some of the found objects as a gift and thus enabled the establishment of the internationally important collection of the Ephesus Museum. Due to the Turkish antiquities law, no new objects came to Vienna after 1907. Another museum dedicated to the ancient city is located near the excavation in Selçuk .
The collection
Between 1896 and 1906 a total of seven transports with finds from Ephesus arrived in Vienna. At the beginning of the 20th century, the finds were exhibited in different places, including in the Lower Belvedere and in the antique collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. In 1911 the temporary exhibition in the Theseus Temple had to be closed due to damage to the exhibits. From 1934 to 1944, however, it was used again to exhibit a selection from the entire collection. From 1947 to 1978, some Ephesian sculptures were shown in the pillared courtyard of the Corps de Logis in the Neue Burg . It was not until 1978 that all temporary arrangements were replaced by the newly designed Ephesus Museum in the New Castle. Architecture and architectural sculpture from the Mystery Shrine on the Greek island of Samothrace are attached to the museum as an annex . In the entrance area of the museum, the architecture of the late classical altar of Artemision of Ephesus is built. Stairs lead to a large hall that contains the frieze of the Parther monument . Other important exhibits are a model of the ancient city of Ephesus on a scale of 1: 500 as well as numerous sculptures, including the bronze statue of the athlete.
The Ephesus Museum offers the opportunity to see not only works of sculpture, but also ancient architecture in originals in Central Europe away from the ancient centers. Excavations with Austrian participation are carried out in Ephesus . The scientific processing of the museum holdings is carried out in cooperation with the relevant Viennese university institutes , the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Archaeological Institute .
Ancient Ephesus
Some significant exhibits
- Amazon from the Artemision Altar
In the 6th century BC Chr. Was to be the Seven Wonders scoring Artemis Temple built. After this was burned down, one surrounded in the course of the new building in the 4th century BC. The sacrificial altar of Artemis Ephesia in front of the temple with a magnificent surrounding wall. The upper part of the wounded Amazon comes from this .
- Parthian Monument
The Parthian Monument is the most important relief work of Roman times in Asia Minor . It glorifies the Roman Emperor and the Imperium Romanum in five themes. The reconstruction of the individual plates is not entirely certain, as they were found in a second or third use. In a reconstruction proposal, the panels were arranged in the form of a monumental altar. 40 meters of the figure friezes , which were around 70 meters long, are on display. In an older interpretation, the monument was associated with the Emperor Lucius Verus and his Parthian campaign in 161-165 AD (hence the name). It is more likely that the monument was erected under Antoninus Pius in the 1940s of the 2nd century AD.
- Bronze statue of an athlete
A Roman copy of a Greek original from the last quarter of the 4th century BC, assembled from fragments. BC showing a young athlete cleaning his scraper, which was used after a competition to cleanse the body ( Apoxyomenos ). The statue cannot be attributed to a specific Greek artist, but was a well-known and popular motif in ancient times.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wiplinger / Wlach: Ephesus. 100 Years of Austrian Research, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 1995, pp. 175–181.
- ^ Kunsthistorisches Museum: Guide through the collections, Vienna 1988, pp. 110–119.
literature
- Kunsthistorisches Museum: guide through the collections . Brandstätter, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-85447-308-7 , pp. 59–119 (edited by Alfred Bernhard-Walcher, Kurt Gschwantler and Wolfgang Oberleitner).
- Ulrike Muss : The Archeology of the Ephesian Artemis. Shape and ritual of a sanctuary . Phoibos, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-901232-91-6 .
- Wolfgang Oberleitner : Finds from Ephesus and Samothrace . Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-8000-3157-4 (Guide to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Antikensammlung II).
- Wolfgang Oberleitner: Treasures from Turkey Künstlerhaus, Vienna 1987, ISBN 3-900926-05-0 .
- Wilfried Seipel (Ed.): The Parthian Monument of Ephesus. Files from the colloquium, Vienna, 27.-28. April 2003 . Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 2006, ISBN 978-3-85497-107-8 .
- Gilbert Wiplinger, Gudrun Wlach (arr.): Ephesos. 100 years of Austrian research . 2nd, improved edition. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 1996, ISBN 3-205-98582-6 .
- Wolfgang Oberleitner: The Parthian Monument of Ephesus . (= Writings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum 11), Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-85497-150-4 .
Web links
- Official website of the Ephesus Museum
- Society of the Friends of Ephesus
- Austrian Archaeological Institute
Coordinates: 48 ° 12 '19.9 " N , 16 ° 21' 54.7" E