1978 to 2018 40 YEARS of EPHESOS MUSEUM VIENNA in December 2018, the Ephesos Museum Celebrates Both Its Fortieth Birthday and It

1978 TO 2018 40 YEARS OF EPHESOS MUSEUM VIENNA

In December 2018, the Ephesos Museum celebrates both its fortieth birthday and its reopening after having been closed to the public for over a year. The new installation now incorporates a second plateau-gallery, where magnificent examples of late-classical portraiture, public sculptures and a series of ancient polychrome marble columns are displayed. For the first time, the Ephesos Museum will also showcase panels from the impressive Heroon of Trysa. The entire frieze from the enclosure wall of this large tomb from Lycia (Asia Minor) has survived. Rightly regarded as a unique highlight of late-classical art, it combines mythological images with scenes from the life of the ruler buried here. Because of its size, the monument has never been properly displayed, and the showcased relief panels function as a preview. The adaptation of the galleries now housing the House of Austrian History will hopefully soon allow us to exhibit the entire frieze, fulfilling a decades-old desideratum.

In addition, the Ephesos Museum can now display the Hera of Ephesus, on permanent loan from the Academy of Fine Arts. The new comprehensive and didactic installation devised in collaboration with the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) presents recent findings and research. HISTORY OF THE EXCAVATIONS AT EPHESUS The study of the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations in Asia Minor as important precursors of modern Europe became a focal point for Austrian archaeology in the late nineteenth cen tury. In 1873 and 1875, the University of Vienna undertook two campaigns in the sanctuary of the mystery cult on the Greek island of Samothrace, where the celebrated Winged Victory of Samothrace (today Paris, Musée du Louvre) had recently been found. In 1881, Austrian archaeologists rediscovered the Heroon of Trysa whose elaborate reliefs make this grand funerary monument in Lycia (southwest Turkey) a highpoint of late-classical art. Excavations at Ephesus, situated on the west coast of Turkey, began in 1895. Founded in 1898, the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) continues to excavate and study the ancient metropolis, one of the foremost cities of the ancient world and home to the Artemision, the sanctuary and temple of the goddess Artemis and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Ephesus in Austria These late-nineteenth century campaigns were sanctioned by the Ottoman government, who issued a fiat permitting the export of some of the finds to Austria. This is why sculptures, building components and small artefacts from Samothrace, Trysa and Ephesus are now in Vienna – those from Ephesus were actually a gift from the Sultan to Emperor Franz Joseph. They were incorporated into the imperial collection, from which evolved the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna’s Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities.

The Ephesos Museum at Neue Burg Long in a storage depot and then provisionally displayed, the newly installed Ephesos Museum at Neue Burg was opened in 1978. Enlarged and partially adapted in 2018, it now offers fascinating insights into the civilizations that flowered for centuries at these three seminal ancient sites. PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS Press photographs are available in the press section of our website free of charge, for your topical reporting: press.khm.at.

Ephesos Museum © KHM-Museumsverband

The Bronze Athlete from Ephesus Roman, late first century AD after Greek original from the fourth century BC © KHM-Museumsverband

Ephesos Museum © KHM-Museumsverband

Model of the „Heroon of Trysa“ © KHM-Museumsverband Part of the south and west frieze of the „Heroon of Trysa” Greek/Lycian, c. 380 BC © KHM-Museumsverband

Part of the south and west frieze of the „Heroon of Trysa” Greek/Lycian, c. 380 BC © KHM-Museumsverband

Part of the west frieze of the „Heroon of Trysa“ (detail) Greek/Lycian, c. 380 BC © KHM-Museumsverband

Part of the west frieze of the „Heroon of Trysa“ Greek/Lycian, c. 380 v. Chr. © KHM-Museumsverband

The Parthian Monument from Ephesus Roman, 2nd century AD © KHM-Museumsverband The Parthian Monument from Ephesus Roman, 2nd century AD © KHM-Museumsverband

The Parthian Monument from Ephesus Roman emperor Hadrian with the young Marc Aurel and Lucius Verus Roman, 2nd century AD © KHM-Museumsverband

The Parthian Monument from Ephesus (detail) Roman, 2nd century AD © KHM-Museumsverband

Acroterion from the Heroon of Samothrake Roman, early 1st century AD © KHM-Museumsverband

Portrait of a Roman Citizen Roman, late 1st century BC © KHM-Museumsverband Two herms with the bearded head of a divinity Roman, 2nd half of the 2nd century AD © KHM-Museumsverband

Ephesos Museum Heldenplatz, 1010 Vienna Entrance: House of Austrian History

Tuesdays–Sundays, 10am –6pm Thursdays until 9pm

Adults € 8 Concessions € 6 Senior citizens € 6,50 Vienna City Card € 7 Groups (of 10 or over) p.p. € 6 Annual Ticket € 44 Annual ticket under 25 € 25 Children and teens under 19 free Audio guide (German, English, Italian) € 2

Annual ticket holders for the KHM-Museumsverband and the ÖNB also enjoy free entry

PRESS CONTACT Nina Auinger-Sutterlüty, MAS (Head of Press and PR) Mag. Sarah Aistleitner T +43 1 525 24 – 4021 /–4025 [email protected]

KHM-Museumsverband Wissenschaftliche Anstalt öffentlichen Rechts Burgring 5, 1010 Vienna www.khm.at