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Reconstructing Antiquity is a collaborative project between the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum and the Yale University Art Gallery, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
As primary resources, the objects in this exhibition present us with visual keys that aid our understanding of ancient Mediterranean cultures. Reconstructing Antiquity pairs long-term loans from the Yale University Art Gallery alongside highlights from the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum’s permanent collection. Its three thematic installations address topics of mythology, theatricality, and gender in Greece and Rome and display a rich array of artifacts from coins to frescoes. Over the course of the two-year exhibition, faculty, students, alumnae, and museum professionals have helped to unravel the unique stories of these objects through their independent research. This website, an expanding discovery tool, is the result of their ongoing contributions.
On View 21 September 2010 - 3 June 2012
The Exhibition
Browse the exhibition by the three thematic gallery installations to select objects for deeper investigation. Interdisciplinary explorations invite you to look closely and examine issues such as an object’s creation and original function, historic, mythological, and literary references, dispersal, and preservation.
Additional Resources
Consider the broader contexts of these objects by reading the thematic text panels on display in the exhibition as well as relevant articles. Each resource also suggests related objects for further exploration.