The Louvre, arguably the most important art museum in the world, has decided to lend parts of its ceramic collection to Colombia’s National Museum in the capital Bogota.
Colombia’s National Museum, which this year celebrates its 190th birthday, said a full collection of ancient Greek ceramic will arrive in July this year from the Louvre museum in Paris, France.
“We wanted it to be an exhibition of ceramic because it is a marvelous [concept] which runs through all the epochs and which tells [a complete story] of history, beliefs, culture, painting. The ceramic contains an incredible richness in themes,” said Maria Victoria de Robayo, director of Colombia’s National Museum, to newspaper El Espectador.
Two years ago, with the help of the French embassy in Bogota, representatives from the Colombian National Museum approached the Louvre to ask for permission to lend parts of the museum’s huge collection of ancient ceramics.
In total 90 pieces of ceramic will be exhibited in July, the majority of them dating from the Greek classic period, meaning the fifth to fourth century BC.
“These pieces are rich in technique, in form, they are marvelous works, selected from the large collections of the Louvre. The mythology is a theme everyone will like and it is an opportunity for new visitors to come in contact with the Greek world,” Robayo continued.
The exhibition will follow three major themes: “The Gods of Olympia,” “Religion and the City” and “Religion in the Private Space.”
More information is expected on the homepage of Colombia’s National Museum shortly.