Chypre au Louvre

The Department of Near Eastern Antiquities presents, in the Cypriot archaeology rooms, sixteen works loaned by the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, accompanied by a digital experience.

Using works such as picrolite idols extracted from Mount Troodos or an inscribed copper ingot unearthed in one of the sanctuaries of Enkomi, the visitor is invited to gain a deeper understanding of the material productions and the commercial and cultural exchanges that developed on the island during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages.

Archaic terracotta votive statues discovered by the Swedish mission in the 1930s at Ayia Irini will enter into dialogue with the limestone ex-votos uncovered at Golgoi by the expedition of Count de Vogüé in the 1860s. Around the Louvre’s two Hathoric capitals, recent research on the “Great Goddess” will be highlighted and, alongside the collection of anatomical ex-votos, the god Asclepius of Paphos will take pride of place, recalling the importance of Cyprus in the practice of medicine.

As they discover these ambassadorial works and rediscover the museum’s collection, visitors will follow a sensory route enriched with excerpts from poems by George Seferis and Constantine Cavafy and with Cypriot songs.

This tangible and intangible presentation at the Louvre celebrates Cypriot culture across time.