Drawings at Harvard's Fogg Art Museum Explore Documentation of the Ancient City of Sardis-from the Age of Enlightenment to the Age of Computers

Exhibition Organized by 'Archaeological Exploration of Sardis,' a Harvard-Cornell Collaboration since 1958

CAMBRIDGE, MA (August 19, 2003) An exhibition opening at Harvard's Fogg Art Museum this month presents the ancient metropolis of Sardis, in western Turkey, once ruled by Croesus, whose riches were legendary. The city is seen through drawings, architectural renderings, digital reconstructions, and maps, to show how documentation of the archaeological site has changed over the past 250 years. The City of Sardis: Approaches in Graphic Recording was organized by Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, or Sardis Expedition, a joint project of Harvard and Cornell universities that has undertaken excavations at the site since 1958. The exhibition demonstrates how documentation of the topography and historical architecture of the site has been influenced by changes in approach ranging from the romantic to the scientific and by developments in techniques of recording. The City of Sardis opens August 23 and continues through November 16, 2003.

Sardis, which lies on a river plain about 60 miles from the Aegean Sea, was a major cultural and administrative center of the ancient world for over a thousand years. In the 7th century B.C., it was the capital of the Lydian Empire, where coinage was invented and naturally occurring electrum was first refined into pure gold and silver. After the fall of the Lydian Empire in the mid-6th century B.C., Sardis was ruled by Persia and then by Hellenistic kings before becoming part of the Roman Empire. The city declined in importance and size after the 6th century A.D., although there is evidence of a brief revival in the 13th century under the Byzantines.

"Documenting changes in the graphic recording of Sardis gives us both information about the site itself and insight into changes in Western concepts of graphic representation and applications of technology," said Marjorie Cohn, acting director of the Harvard University Art Museums. "As headquarters for the Sardis Expedition, the Art Museums play a central role in supporting the excavations and their interpretation."

Among the 47 objects on display in the exhibition will be 18th-century ink-and-color-wash drawings by Italian architect Giovanni Battista Borra, and detailed sketches and drawings from excavations in the early and late 20th century. Recent computer-generated topographical maps precisely illustrate even the minutest details of the landscape, and computer models reconstruct the interior of a Late Archaic painted tomb. Interpretive drawings show historical monuments at the site and reveal cultural approaches, personal biases, and technological developments spanning two and a half centuries.

"These drawings were not specifically made to be exhibited, and yet some of them are extremely beautiful and artistic," said Elizabeth Gombosi, associate director of the Sardis Expedition. "Like the Harvard Art Museums, the Sardis Expedition is an educational as well as a research project and for 45 years has trained archaeologists, conservators, restorers, architects, and topographers. It is a collaboration of students and teachers from several disciplines: archaeology, history, architecture, and fine arts."

In one section of the exhibition, visitors will be able to see how the reconstruction of the site's Roman Bath-Gymnasium Complex evolved. The impressive structure of the two-story Marble Court, with its many columns, was rebuilt from a jumble of fragments.

"The evidence consisted of blocks that had fallen in antiquity and had come to rest topsy-turvy on the ground," said Crawford H. Greenewalt, Jr., field director of the Expedition. "The first step was to record exactly where the blocks had fallen and take photos to show their condition. Then the blocks, which weigh several tons, had to be moved so that one could get around them and draw them. Those drawings became fundamental records for use in figuring out how these fallen pieces had originally looked when they were all together."

A fully illustrated catalogue developed by the Harvard University Art Museums will accompany the exhibition. It includes entries by Greenewalt, Nicholas D. Cahill, Philip T. Stinson, and Fikret K. Yegül; essays by Greenewalt, Cahill, and Stinson; and 93 images, 26 of them in color. The catalogue complements an already notable series of publications on the excavations-15 volumes to date. Other important publications related to the Expedition include Sardis from Prehistoric to Roman Times and Letters from Sardis, by George M. A. Hanfmann (1911-1986), who was a professor and curator of ancient art at Harvard and founder of the Expedition.

The catalogue was funded by the Henry P. McIlhenny Fund in the Andrew W. Mellon Publications Fund, with additional support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and from a gift in memory of Burriss Young, Helen Burriss Young, and Francis Hastings Young. The exhibition was funded by a generous gift from an anonymous donor.

About the Harvard University Art Museums
The Harvard University Art Museums are one of the world's leading arts institutions, with the Arthur M. Sackler, Busch-Reisinger, and Fogg art museums, the Straus Center for Conservation, and the U.S. headquarters for the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, an excavation project in western Turkey.

The Harvard University Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collections, their groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of their staff. As an integral part of the Harvard community, the three art museums serve as a resource for all students, adding a special dimension to their areas of study. The public is welcome to experience the collections and exhibitions as well as to enjoy lectures, symposia, and other programs.

For more than a century, the Harvard University Art Museums have been the nation's premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and are renowned for their role in the development of the discipline of art history in this country.

Location and Hours
The Fogg Art Museum and the Busch-Reisinger Museum are located at 32 Quincy Street in Cambridge. The Arthur M. Sackler Museum is located next door at 485 Broadway. Each Museum is a short walk from the Harvard Square MBTA station.

Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday 1 - 5 p.m.; the Museums are closed on national holidays. Admission is $6.50; $5 for seniors; $5 for students; and free for those under 18 years of age. The Museums are free to everyone Saturday mornings, 10 a.m. - noon. The Harvard University Art Museums receive support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. More detailed information is available at 617-495-9400 or on the Internet at www.artmuseums.harvard.edu.

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For more information on this appointment or the Harvard University Art Museums, please contact:

Matthew Barone
Harvard University Art Museums
tel 617-495-2397; fax 617-496-9762
mbarone@fas.harvard.edu

or

Kim Gilbert/Allison Derusha
Resnicow Schroeder Associates
tel 212-671-5157; fax 212-595-8354
kgilbert@resnicowschroeder.com
aderusha@resnicowschroeder.com