7000 YEARS OF PERSIAN ART
Masterpieces from the Iranian
National Museum, Teheran
November 22, 2000 to March 25, 2001
prolonged until April 16, 2001
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Hall VIII
A-1010 Vienna, Maria-Theresien-Platz
From November 22, 2000, the Kunsthistorisches Museum will present 180 masterpieces spanning seven thousand years of Iranian art from the collections of the Iranian National Museum in Teheran. It will be the first time since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 that these treasures can be admired abroad. Some of the exhibits on show in Vienna have never been presented to the public before. The exhibition will cover a wide period and include clay figures from the 7th millennium BC as well as early Islamic painted ceramic vessels from the 10th century AD.
Prehistoric Iranian ceramics will form one of the numerous highlights of the exhibition. The various shapes and decorations document a varied and fascinating spectrum of early artistic creation. The magnificent gold and silver vessels of the Archamenisch great kings (558-330 BC) mark another highlight. These rulers of the first empire in history amassed incredible wealth in the treasuries of their palaces in Susa and Persepolis. Alexander the Greats (336-323 BC) conquest of Persia and the Selucid kings who succeeded him mark the beginning of increasing Greek influences in Iranian artistic production. This is also true for work produced under the second great Iranian dynasty, the Arsakiden (247 BC to AD 224). In the exhibition we will proudly present a selection of objects sculpture, ceramics, glass dating from this still somewhat elusive period of Iranian art history that have never been on show before. The rule of the Sassaniden dynasty (224 ? 641) saw the re-emergence of traditional Iranian values. Sassanidisch art developed from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, and its pictorial and decorational language is still present in the art of the Arab conquerors, dominated by the new religion of Islam. From the numerous Sassanidisch works of art on show, the magnificently decorated silver vessels should be singled out. The elaborate stucco decorations from Sassanidisch palaces are a further highlight. Some of these architectural decorations from a Sassanidisch mansion in south-western Iran will be on show for the first time in Vienna. And finally, the exhibition will present early Islamic silver, ceramic and glass vessels. They document both the continued influence of Sassanidisch art and new forms and decorations that were to lead to an Islamic pictorial language.
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. 6 p.m.
Thursdays 10 a.m. 9 p.m.
Entrance fees:
Adults ATS 100,--
Concessions ATS 70,--
Family ticket ATS 200,--
Groupes from 10 Persons upwards ATS 70,--
Ticket for guided tour ATS 30,--
Ticket guided tour (pupils) ATS 20,--
Schools ATS 25,--
Vienna - ticket "Wien-Karte ATS 90,--
Reduced with ClubSuxess ATS 70,-
Reduced with ÖBB VORTEILScard ATS 70,-
Catalog: ATS 590.-
Booking Office for Guided Tours:
Tel.: (+43 1) 525 24 / 416 or 550
Press Office:
Public Relations Dept. (Abteilung für Öffentlichkeitsarbeit)
Kunsthistorisches Museum,
A-1010 Vienna, Burgring 5
Tel.: (+43 1) 52524-403/-404/-407
Fax: (+43 1) 5232770
info.pr@khm.at
Bracelet with Lion Decor
Figure of a Guard from Persepolis (stone)
Relief Head of a Bearded Man Persepolis
Lion Rhyton
Cup with Three Rams Heads
Portrait Head of a King
Cup with Relief Decoration
Bronze Statuette with Inscription
Horse Pectoral
Painted Spouted Jug
Rhyton in the Shape of a Horse
Head of a Prince of Elymais
Bowl with Female Musicians
Mosque Hanging Lamp
Bowl with Bird (Thypus Sari)