"Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice: The Graves of Ancient Vani" presents spectacular golden artifacts from Colchis, the home of Greek mythology's fabled Golden Fleece.

A chapter in art history has been written with Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice: The Graves of Ancient Vani, a revelatory exhibition of more than 100 recently excavated artifacts, many golden, on loan to the United States from the Republic of Georgia. The objects are expertly displayed from March 12 to June 1, 2008 on the first floor of New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, funded by philanthropist and antiquities collector Shelby White.

The show's Manhattan presentation has been superbly organized by exuberant curator Jennifer Y. Chi. Her informative wall texts, labels and landmark catalogue are reflections of the scholar's deep knowledge of and passion for this ancient culture. Previously on view at the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. (December 1, 2007-February 24, 2008), Wine, Worship and Sacrifice... travels next to Texas' Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (June 21-September 1, 2008).

Heroic Heritage

According to a myth recorded by the Greek epic poet Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd Century B.C.), the youth Jason set sail from Thessaly with some 50 heroic companions on his ship, the Argo. His seemingly impossible mission was to retrieve a winged ram's hide, the precious Golden Fleece, from faraway Colchis (modern-day Georgia) on the Black Sea's eastern coast. Upon his return with the precious skin, the stalwart adventurer could rightfully assume the throne of Iolcus, his father.

Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice... begins in the converted Upper East Side townhouse's tranquil marble lobby with a single antique work, a Greek column krater (5th Century B.C.), its exterior adorned by the Orchard Painter with a scene of Jason Stealing the Golden Fleece. The red-figure vase with handles, used to mix water and wine, is graciously on loan to ISAW from the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art. The recent expansion of its Greek and Roman Galleries was largely supported by Shelby White and her late husband, Wall Street investor Leon Levy.

Ancient Colchis

The institute's east gallery introduces the viewer to ancient Colchis with a panorama of material remains from the Georgian archaeological site of Vani, founded in the 8th Century B.C. Objects recently unearthed attest to Colchis, a center of viticulture (grape production), as a crossroads city. Its art was influenced by that of the powerful Greeks, Achaemenid Persians, Phoenicians and nomadic Scythians. Proceeding counter-clockwise through the room. one encounters three interesting depictions of the male human form uncovered in Vani:

• a Bronze Figurine (3rd Century B.C.) with hoop-and-pendant earrings, wire spiral torque and bracelets, seemingly simple in design yet sophisticated in its golden ornamentation;
• a hollow Torso of a Youth (2nd Century B.C.) made of bronze and in the Late Archaic Greek style, reminiscent of the famous Athenian Kritios Boy (ca. 480 B.C.); and
• a bronze Appliqué of a Pan (2nd Century B.C.), a small-scale open-mouthed depiction of the mischievous Greek god influenced by powerfully expressive Hellenistic art from the age of Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.).

The Golden Graves of Vani

Impeccably exhibited in ISAW's north gallery are mostly golden objects from four graves at Vani. Among the most incredible pieces on display are:

• an exquisitely wrought Pair of Gold Crescent-shaped Earrings (ca. 400 B.C.), their intricate design suggestive of the mythical Jason's vessel, the Argo; and
• an ornate Gold Headdress Ornament with Open Work (ca. 330 B.C.), its animal imagery derived from ancient Near Eastern and Scythian peoples.

Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani describes Colchis' administrative and religious center through spectacular artifacts and funerary finds, mainly from the 5th and 4th Centuries B.C. The eastern Black Sea region's imported Greek and Persian goods attest to Vani as a location historically important to international commerce of the ancient world.

Source:

• Chi, Jennifer Y. (ed.), et al. Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani (exh. cat.). New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2007.