BULGARIA’S THRACIAN TREASURES IN THE LOUVRE MUSEUM

The exhibition “The Saga of the Thracian Kings – Archaeological Discoveries in Bulgaria” will open at the Louvre Museum in Paris on 16th of April. Four exhibition rooms of the museum will display a total of 1629 objects from the collections of 17 Bulgarian museums along with 20 items from the Louvre and 11 other museums and cultural institutions of other countries, including the British Museum, the museums in Naples and Bari, the Glyptotek art museum in Copenhagen and the Prado Museum.

The central part of the exhibition will showcase the burial of a Thracian king in the mound “Golyamata Kosmatka” near the south Bulgarian town of Shipka. The mound is believed to be the tomb of the Thracian king Seuthes III. The bronze head of the king - a unique masterpiece of the ancient sculpture, is the most prominent feature of the upcoming exhibition.The gilded helmet with the king’s name, his knee-pads, the opulent golden crown, the sword and scabbard - richly inlaid with gold, a gold cup, silver and bronze jugs, amphorae for wine, gold trim horse trappings, brocaded carpet fibers, a fine scallop shaped piksida, made of silver and gilded with gold, strigils, alabastroni, parts of armor and weapons will be displayed next to the the bronze head of the Thracian king.

Architectural exhibits and examples of painting used in the tombs of Strelcha and Maglizh, as well as photographs from the Tomb of Kazanlak, will reveal the richness of shapes and decorations of the tombs of the Odrysian aristocracy. Distinguished architects and artists were engaged for the creation of those tombs. Large number of the artefacts of the Odrysian Kingdom will be placed for display in the most prestigious exhibition room of the Louvre – the former bedroom of Louis XIV, known as the room with the seven fireplaces, located in the centre of the museum.

The attention of the French people will be drawn to the Thracians because they are still unknown to the world, but the examples of jewelry-making art from IV century BC, when the Thracian state was flourishing, outpaced many countries in Europe at the time, in terms of craftsmanship and opulence.

And the experts in the Louvre want to explain the origin and the rise of the art of our ancestors, and to trace how it contributed to the development of the European civilization. Orpheus is known in Europe, but Seuthes III is not. So the magnificent bronze head of the Thracian king will be the highlight of the presentation.