Pergamon (panorama)

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Visitors to the Panorama PERGAMON (2012). View of the auditorium of the ancient theater and the temple of Dionysus (bottom left), on the castle hill on the left the Trajaneum, the supporting walls of which are still scaffolded, the two-story library and on the far right the Athena shrine

Pergamon was a panorama by the artist and architect Yadegar Asisi , realized in cooperation with the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and shown from September 30, 2011 to September 30, 2012 on Museum Island Berlin . With over 1.5 million visitors, the exhibition Pergamon - Panorama of the ancient metropolis associated with the Asisis panorama , at which numerous finds from the excavations in Pergamon were presented for the first time, was one of the most successful special exhibitions of the State Museums in Berlin.

Asisi's reconstruction of the ancient city has been revised in the temporary exhibition building Pergamonmuseum since November 17, 2018 . The panorama can be viewed together with exhibits from the antique collection.

Pergamon Panorama (1886)

View of Pergamon Castle Hill, reconstruction by Richard Bohn 1888

The excavation of the ancient metropolis Pergamon was a particularly successful undertaking of classical German antiquity. The excavation team led by Carl Humann brought, among other things, the relief panels of the Pergamon Altar to light from 1878 to 1886. The press reacted just as enthusiastically as the experts; Otto von Bismarck and the then Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm showed interest in Pergamon. Alexander Kips and Max Friedrich Koch created a 180-degree panorama that was exhibited at the Lehrter Bahnhof in the Berlin anniversary year of 1886. The 60 meter long and 14 meter high landscape of the castle hill was created with the help of the architect Richard Bohn , who was well informed about the archaeological findings through his work on the excavations. Here, too, the decision was made to reconstruct the Imperial Pergamon in order to be able to show the spectacular finds from the Trajaneum . The highlight of the exhibition was a "Pergamon Festival" with a simulated triumphal procession of Attalus.

In the opinion of Martin Zimmermann , the panorama by Yadegar Asisi ties in with the work of Kips and Koch, in which "the 150 years of enthusiasm for Pergamon is spurred on by an admittedly ephemeral image only shown during the exhibition."

PERGAMON - Panorama of the ancient metropolis (2011)

Conception

Before the Pergamon Museum was closed for restoration in 2014, a special exhibition with previously unseen finds was planned. This exhibition should be accompanied by a large panorama of the ancient city. Andreas Scholl , director of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and Yalda Bouzrina, deputy managing director and negotiator at asisi GmbH, agreed on a joint project in summer 2009.

View across the auditorium (cavea) of the Pergamon Theater to the ruins of the Temple of Dionysus (2012)

When Yadegar Asisi traveled to Bergama in September 2009 to meet the excavation director Felix Pirson and to visit the archaeological site, he had already planned a position that the visitor to the panorama would take. It is a point from where the ancient man could not see the city and its temples: 25 meters high in the air, on the western mountain slope, in which the theater was built, above the so-called Attaleion. Asisi then made a pencil and pen drawing of the entire complex, which already showed the reconstructed ancient buildings in their landscape, as they would later be seen in the panorama.

In January 2010, a scientific colloquium took place at which the execution of the architectural details was discussed using a 1 × 4 meter colored draft sketch, as well as the scenes from everyday life in antiquity, which should be represented in the panorama. It was decided to show the ancient city in its landscape as it presented itself on April 8th in 129 AD on the occasion of the visit of Emperor Hadrian. In cooperation with the Turkish authorities, a 25 meter high photo tower was built at the archaeological site in May 2010. Its most important function was to take the actors of the ancient population in the right positions for the upcoming photo shoot. The theater group Sanat Tiyatrosu from Izmir , a folk dance group from the city of Bergama and numerous extras were hired for this.

rotunda

Rotunda on Museum Island (2012)

In the course of 2010, the rotunda was also designed, a temporary building in which the panorama should be visible. The neighborhood of listed buildings and the area of ​​the courtyard stipulated that the rotunda could be a maximum of 27.5 meters high with a diameter of 34 meters. The building site in the Ehrenhof was delicate: a flat vaulted cellar with pillars in the gravel ground of the Spree island. In July and August 2011, the rotunda was built as light as possible ( steel framework with internal facade); a grid foundation made of steel girders made it possible to distribute the weight evenly.

Panorama picture

The panorama picture that was hung in the rotunda was 98.65 meters wide and 23.05 meters high. The image carrier fabric was a new development from the large-format printing company Marx & Moschner in Lennestadt , which was also commissioned to print the 34 webs of the same size. During the subsequent assembly, the lengths were sewn together with special thread. Then - the large picture was laid out in a gymnasium - Asisi applied luminous paint by hand for the nighttime effect of the panorama. Printing, assembly, post-processing and hanging of the picture in the rotunda took place in August / September 2011; A new technique was used for the suspension, in which the canvas was attached to a running rail with rollers, similar to a curtain.

Sound

For PERGAMON, Eric Babak developed a sound cloud made up of orchestral music, ancient music, natural sounds and the sounds of an ancient city, which he realized in his recording studio in Cyprus. He used the quiet night hours in Berlin to coordinate the sound with the light dramaturgy in the rotunda.

Scenes of the panorama picture

Partially reconstructed gable of the Temple of Trajan in Pergamon (2011)
Pergamene coin from the time of Septimius Severus depicting an altar with a canopy. Steps lead up to the altar, flanked on both sides by porticos, each with two figures. In the foreground two bull figures on pedestals (Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin). Except for the bull figures, the reconstruction of the Pergamon Altar follows this coin image

It is known that Hadrian and his entourage left Greece in March 129 at the latest and were first received in Ephesus , which was an honor for this metropolis compared to the competing Pergamon. Hadrian then visited Miletus ; the following imperial travel route cannot be exactly reconstructed.

Panorama PERGAMON accepts Hadrian's second visit to Pergamon, after having visited the city in 123. This imperial visit is the central event of the panorama:

  • The emperor is greeted with jubilation by the population on his arrival, and this is also the first day of Dionysia . While the festival procession approaches on the theater terrace, the sacrifice is being prepared in the temple of Dionysus . Numerous Pergameners have already taken their places in the stands of the theater. A wooden stage frame has been erected for the upcoming theater performances.
  • On the castle hill, in the background , you can see the Trajaneum , which Hadrian was particularly interested in building. (This sanctuary was originally a temple of Trajan and Zeus Philios designed, but the plan was changed, and there was a temple dedicated to the deified emperors Trajan and Hadrian with their statues in more than twice life size on both sides of the inner Cella were set up .) The temple is inaugurated on the occasion of the imperial visit in 129 AD. With its glossy white marble, it outshines the rest of the buildings on the castle hill. The retaining walls required for this sanctuary have not yet been completed and are therefore scaffolded. In the foreground, the main sanctuary of the city, the Temple of Athena on Castle Hill, attracts the view of panoramic visitors. A number of residents have gathered on the temple forecourt and have a good view of the theater from above. The gable of the Pergamon library can be seen behind the Temple of Athena .
  • The great altar is related to the temple of Athena, which is located higher up, which should be understandable for the visitor to the PERGAMON panorama. The colorful frieze is particularly striking about this marble structure. Undoubtedly, the frieze was painted in color in ancient times, but the choice of colors is hypothetical. Asisi decided to display a canopy similar to an arbor on the altar. He takes this detail from the coin image of a large Pergamene bronze (photo).
  • The view goes down to the Roman city on the plain, which was largely rebuilt under the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. The theater, amphitheater and stadium stand out from the residential area as large public buildings.

In the Panorama PERGAMON, visitors can also see how the city rose to become an ancient metropolis thanks to its favorable location. The Pergamener lived in a landscape that was richly endowed with all the necessary resources:

  • The castle hill, sloping steeply on three sides, was easy to fortify, with the southern slope, being less steep, offering space for a settlement.
  • The sea is barely visible on the western horizon: the approximately 27 km distance from the coast gave the Pergamenern time to prepare their defense if an enemy approached from this direction.
  • The castle hill overlooks the fertile, west-east running valley of the Kaïkos River , which thanks to powerful springs ensured Pergamon's water supply all year round. The streams of the Ketios and Selinus coming from the north even run right past the castle hill. The abundance of water enabled intensive agricultural use of the wide valley, so that the supply of agricultural products was also secured.
  • The Pergamener met their need for timber and firewood from the nearby forest-covered mountains (Pindasos to the north and Aspordenon in the south).

criticism

The art critic Verena Straub interprets PERGAMON as a “presentation of a transfigured yearning for antiquity”, a product of a “sentimental historicism ” in which, for example, antique stonemasons are allowed to sleep in their intoxication in a meadow of flowers. In particular, the soundtrack ("from the twittering of birds to the barking of dogs, to laughing male voices to angel choirs") is criticized by her as part of a spectacle that pretends to be a scientific reconstruction. Oliver Heilwagen describes the panorama as “Histo-Entertainment at the highest high-tech level” and a stark contrast to the large presentation of finds from the ancient metropolis: these objects have so far remained in the depots for good reason, they have worked alongside the famous exhibits like any “flotsam” from Mediterranean provincial museums.

Pergamon Museum. The Panorama (2018)

The exhibition project Pergamonmuseum. Since November 17, 2018, and probably until 2024, the panorama has presented around 80 main works from the collection of antiques, which was closed for renovation, together with the revised panorama by Yadegar Asisi.

While in the previous project the visitor had the option of only seeing the panorama or only the exhibition, both components are in the Pergamon Museum. The panorama has been integrated. Asisi designed 40 new scenes for this version of the Pergamon Panorama; the photo shoot took place in October 2017 in a Berlin film studio.

Since the height of the exhibition space was no longer limited by the ridge height of the buildings around the courtyard, the revised 2018 panorama is six meters higher, so that the sky comes into its own. Asisi has taken into account scientific criticism of his reconstruction in the revision, above all the viewer is presented with a bloodier depiction of the acts of sacrifice at the Great Altar, and poverty and slavery are also more in the picture than in the depiction of the ancient city in 2011.

According to plans by spreeformat architekten GmbH, a new temporary exhibition building has been built opposite the Bode Museum (Am Kupfergraben 2) since February 2017 , a 108-meter-long and 14.5-meter-wide hall with an exhibition area of ​​around 2000 square meters. Compared to 2011/2012, a video projection of the Pergamon Altar and a light installation of the Telephos frieze have been added . The Pergamon Altar itself remains within the museum and cannot be viewed until the renovation work is complete.

Web links

Commons : PERGAMON - Panorama of the ancient metropolis  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Ralf Grüßinger, Ingrid Geske, Andreas Scholl (eds.): Pergamon - Panorama of the ancient metropolis. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Michael Imhof Verlag , Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86568-693-0 .
  • asisi GmbH (Ed.): PERGAMON . Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-035344-4 .
  • Andreas Scholl, Agnes Schwarzmaier (eds.): Pergamon - masterpieces of the ancient metropolis and 360 ° panorama by Yadegar Asisi . National Museums in Berlin and Michael Imhof Verlag, Berlin 2018. ISBN 978-3-7319-0793-0 . ( Reading sample )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Pergamon Panorama" ends with a record number of visitors. In: Archeology online. October 19, 2012, accessed April 1, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Martin Zimmermann: Pergamon: History, Culture, Archeology , CH Beck, Munich 2011, p. 119 f.
  3. ↑ Martin Zimmermann: Pergamon: History, Culture, Archeology , CH Beck, Munich 2011, p. 121.
  4. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 18.
  5. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 20.
  6. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 32.
  7. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 36.
  8. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 69.
  9. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 64.
  10. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 88.
  11. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, pp. 92–95.
  12. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, pp. 99-101.
  13. ↑ Interactive catalog of the Münzkabinett. Retrieved April 2, 2019 .
  14. ^ Anthony R. Birley: Hadrian: The Restless Emperor. Routledge, London a. a. 1997, ISBN 0-415-16544-X , p. 222.
  15. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 108.
  16. ↑ a b Anthony R. Birley: Hadrian: The Restless Emperor. Routledge, London a. a. 1997, ISBN 0-415-16544-X , p. 166.
  17. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 119.
  18. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 114.
  19. ↑ PERGAMON , Berlin 2011, p. 127.
  20. ↑ Martin Zimmermann: Pergamon: History, Culture, Archeology , CH Beck, Munich 2011, pp. 11-13.
  21. ↑ Verena Straub: In the circus of reconstructions - Asisi Panorama. In: art in berlin. October 13, 2011, accessed April 1, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Oliver Heilwagen: Pergamon - Panorama of the ancient metropolis. In: art + film. October 1, 2011, accessed April 1, 2019 .
  23. ↑ PERGAMON. Masterpieces from the ancient metropolis and 360 ° panorama by Yadegar Asisi can be seen from autumn 2018. In: State Museums in Berlin. April 26, 2018, accessed April 1, 2019 .
  24. ^ Rolf Brockschmidt: The Pergamon Panorama returns to Berlin. In: Der Tagesspiegel. April 24, 2018, accessed April 1, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Journey to Pergamon. Exhibition and Asisi panorama opened in Berlin. In: BauNetz. November 19, 2018, accessed April 1, 2019 .