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30 décembre 2017

'Agon! Competition in Ancient Greece' on view at CaixaForum Barcelona

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Niké-winged with wind-blown clothes, c. 100 BC., Halicarnassus. Marble Statue. © The Trustees of the British Museum

BARCELONA.- This exhibition, jointly organised by ”la Caixa” Foundation and the British Museum within the terms established in the strategic agreement established by the two institutions, offers a unique opportunity to discover an extraordinary collection of works related to games, sports and competition in Ancient Greece. The objects on show range from marbles and dice used by children 2,200 years ago to a fragment of the frieze from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 

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Athlete or hero, c. 320-300 BC. Roman version in marble of a Greek original. Probably from Italy © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

The competitive spirit, inherent to human nature 

The Ancient Greeks believed that the competitive spirit was inherent to human nature and could transmit positive, innovative and dynamic power. In contrast to the individualism that dominates many aspects of life today, in Ancient Greece competition represented the collective personality and was a factor in social cohesion. 

Nike, the goddess of victory who connects the world of mortals and the world gods, welcomes you to the exhibition and invites you to discover the idea of competition in Ancient Greece, where heroes, athletes and warriors illustrate the rivalry that dominated all aspects of life, including artistic creation. The Greeks aspired to attain excellence through the balance between body and spirit, through sport, on the one hand, and through philosophy, the arts and the sciences on the other. 

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One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Frieze on a slab showing the Greeks fighting against women Amazons, c. 350 BC. Marble of the Mausoleum of Halicarnaso, present Bodrum (Turkey). © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

The Greeks were sports enthusiasts, and the Panhellenic Games, which took place at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea and Isthmia, attracted the finest athletes. The winners were considered heroes and could win great prizes, both material and in terms of fame and prestige. Sporting events drew huge crowds and provided the Ancient Greeks with a popular source of entertainment. 

Theatrical and musical contests also attracted thousands of spectators. Writers such as Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes took part in these contests. 

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Red-figured volute-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Apulian, Greece, circa 370 BC-350 BC © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

Another field in which the competitive spirit thrived was war. The Greek city states and kingdoms were in almost constant conflict with each other or with their neighbours. Battle scenes, both real and imaginary, were popular subjects in Greek art, from small gemstones to large architectural sculptures and memorials set up in honour of dead soldiers. 

As is still the case today, people from different classes and backgrounds competed in civic life, though in the case of Ancient Greece, the arenas of competition ranged from public spaces to cemeteries. The powerful competed for greater public presence and recognition, and their disputes extended to the realm of luxury objects and continued after death, as is reflected in sumptuous tombs and mausoleums. 

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Black-figured kylix in 'Siana' shape, attributed to the C Painter, 575 BC-550 BC, Archaic Greece, Attica © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

The sculptures from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, on loan for the first time 
Agon! Competition in Ancient Greece brings together, for the first time, a large number of masterpieces from the renowned vaults of the British Museum, where more than 100,000 objects form what is one of the largest and most complete collections of antiquities from the classical world. 

This generous selection, formed by 172 ancient works from the British Museum, ranges from around a dozen large statues to smaller figures, from finelyengraved seals to coins, all brought together for the first time. Indeed, many of these pieces are now displayed outside the British Museum for the first time as part of this exhibition, a good number of them brought here directly from the exhibition rooms in London.  

This is the case, for example, of the final section of the show, which explores death through sculptures from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the tomb of King Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Never before has the British Museum loaned out these famed, iconic sculptures, which have also been restored for the occasion.

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Gold jewel of a Greek tomb belonging to a rich people, c. 450-400 BC. Found in Acarnania, in Central Greece © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

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Famous athletes training. Red figures amphora, c. 520-500 BC. Made in Athens. From Vulci, Italy © The Trustees of the British Museum.

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Athlete with discus. Marble, Roman Period (after a lost Greek original of about 430 - 400 BC), about 160 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

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Red figures kylix (detail), Attributed to Douris, Attica, Greece, excavated at Vulci, Italia, 500 BC-490 BC © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

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Three runners in an amphora, trophy of the Athens Olympics, 333-332 BC. Black figures in an amphora-shaped trophy. Made in Athens. Found in Benghazi, in Cyrenaica (Libya) © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

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The Vaison Diadumenos, 118 - 138. Roman copy of a lost Greek bronze original of about 440 BC. Excavated Vaison, at the Roman theatre, 1870,0712.1 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

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Dionysos. Marble head, Roman version of a Greek original, circa 150-100 AD © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

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Portrait head of Euripides. Parian marble, Roman (Flavian copy of Greek bronze original), 1st century © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

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Relief of Comic and tragic Greek masks. Marble, Roma, 2nd century © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum.

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Heracles. Bronze figurine, 400-350 BC. Made in southern Italy © The Trustees of the British Museum.

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Attributed to The Antimenes Painter, Black-figured hydria, c. 510 BC. Made in Athens. Found in Vulci, Italy © The Trustees of the British Museum.

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Greek warrior ready to fight. Bronze statuette, c. 350-300 BC. Found in Corfu © The Trustees of the British Museum.

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Breastplate with sculpted muscles, upper armor of the richest soldiers, c. 350-300 BC. Bronze. Found in Ruvo, Southern Italy © Trustees of the British Museum

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Portrait statue of a wealthy Greek woman. Marble. About 130 -100 BC. Probably from Turkey © Trustees of the British Museum

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