Hadrian exhibition given a head start
Jan 11 2008 by Shernah Noah, The Journal
A BRONZE head of Roman emperor Hadrian which has not left the British Museum since it was fished out of the River Thames almost 200 years ago will travel to both ends of Hadrian’s Wall as part of an exhibition about the legendary leader.
Hadrian: Empire and Conflict, at the British Museum, will be the first major show dedicated solely to the life and legacy of the man who ruled the Roman empire at its height.
The summer show has contemporary resonance – Hadrian’s first act as emperor was to recognise that there had been imperial overreach and withdraw Roman troops from Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq. The exhibition will follow on from The First Emperor at the British Museum, which drew record crowds for China’s terracotta warriors.
Many of the objects going on display, which include “dramatic sculpture, exquisite bronzes and architectural fragments”, will be seen for the first time in the UK.
The exhibition will look at Hadrian’s family background, his military legacy, his love of Greek culture, suppression of the Jewish revolt, interest in architecture, his relationship with a young Greek man, and the arrangements for his succession and his tomb. Before the show opens, a bronze head dating from the 2nd Century AD will travel to both ends of Hadrian’s Wall, which Hadrian ordered to be built as a Roman frontier. The head comes from a huge statue, measuring one and a quarter that of life size, which would have been on public display in London to commemorate Hadrian’s visit to Britain in AD122.
Its disposal in the River Thames, where it was discovered in 1834, is what stopped the precious object from being destroyed in a period when large bronze statues were often melted down. The underwater silts of the Thames protected the patina on the head, meaning it is particularly well preserved. The head will go on show in Tullie House, Carlisle, from February and Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum at Wallsend from April to June before the British Museum exhibition opens in July.
The three-month show will bring together more than 200 loans from 31 countries, from Italy to Georgia and Israel to Newcastle. Following the First Emperor exhibition, the show will be the second to go on display in the Museum’s historic Reading Room, the dome of which has been compared to Hadrian’s architectural masterpiece the Pantheon in Rome.
The exhibition also includes objects from the British Museum’s own collection, such as the famous Vindolanda tablets from Hadrian’s Wall.
The British Museum said the exhibition would “bring the contradictions in Hadrian’s personality and reign into sharp focus”.
Hadrian: Empire and Conflict runs from July 24 to October 26 at the British Museum in London.
