Agenda

The exhibition in the new extension of the Historisches Museum in Bern is showing an exquisite selection of some 450 Celtic art treasures from all over Europe in an area covering 1200 sq. m. Magnificent jewellery and richly decorated utilitarian objects made from bronze, iron, silver and gold, precious grave goods and cult objects with complex patterns or representations of fantastic beings testify to the masterly artistic creation achieved by the Celts. The exhibition offers the chance to see for the first time some recently discovered and spectacular new finds from France that have not yet been displayed to the public. As a particular highlight it is also showing for the first time outside Germany the treasure from the burial chamber of the famous Celtic chieftain at Hochdorf. The most up-to-date exhibition techniques help to elucidate the structure of the complex and often puzzling ornamental schemes of the artefacts. The development of motifs and style is explained in dialogue with the testimonies of classical antiquity.

Who was Charlemagne and what imprint did the great Carolingian king leave on the 8th and 9th centuries? 2014 marks the 1200th anniversary of Charlemagne’s death (*748 – †814), the first European emperor of the Middle Ages. For this occasion the Swiss National Museum is putting on an exhibition that focuses on the era of Charlemagne and his cultural- historical achievements. Numerous splendid exhibits on loan from Switzerland and abroad introduce the viewers to the innovations in art, architecture, education and religion stimulated by Charlemagne. The emphasis of the show is on the Carolingian legacy in Switzerland. Separate theme galleries dealing with Charlemagne as a person, his court, the empire he founded and the monasteries, churches and palace complexes he built, offer a panorama view of the age from around 740 to 900. An epilogue sheds light on the cult and legends around Charlemagne that developed after his death.

This exhibition in Geneva reflects the passion of three generations of collectors of ancient art. Begun by Josef Mueller in the early twentieth century, the collection of antiquities at the Barbier-Mueller Museum was enriched by the acquisitions of his son-in-law Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller and of his grandsons. According to the recollections of Josef Mueller, in 1907 he already possessed Greek or Roman objects in his student residence in Zurich. A 1915 photograph of his sitting room at Solothurn shows a Roman stela next to a Kandinsky painting. When he moved to Paris after World War I, he owned a small set of Tanagra-type statuettes and Etruscan vases.