The Museum of Antiquities of the University of Leipzig (german: Antikenmuseum der Universität Leipzig) is a collection of

antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

History

The foundations of the collection were laid in the first half of the 18th century, with the first acquisitions of antiquities by the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. As early as 1735, Johann Friedrich Christ, archaeologist and professor of poetry, used antiquities from his ownership in lectures.Geschichte des Antikenmuseums
History. In the early 19th century the antiquities collection acquired the title "Archaeology and Art Cabinet". While the emphasis of the collection was originally on antique coins, gems and

plaster cast A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a pregnant belly, a fossil or other remains such as fresh or fossilised footprints – ...

s, this changed with the arrival of 50

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and Etruscan

vase A vase ( or ) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non-rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree species ...

s in Leipzig, courtesy of Eduard Gerhard. In the same year the collection was further expanded with antiquities purchased by one W. G. Becker during a tour of Italy. Numerous

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. Th ...

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terra ...

s and rare sculptures were further acquired over the following years. In the second half of the 19th century, under the leadership of

Johannes Overbeck Johannes Adolph Overbeck (27 March 1826 – 8 November 1895) was a German archaeologist and art historian. Biography Overbeck was born in Antwerp. He was son-in-law to zoologist Georg August Goldfuss (1782-1848), and was father-in-law to anthropo ...

, new additions were mostly restricted to plaster casts. Original objects did not begin to be acquired again in significant numbers until 1897, with the purchase of

Friedrich Hauser Friedrich Hauser (Stuttgart 1859–Baden-Baden, 1917) was a German classical archaeologist and art historian. His most famous single publication is ''Die Neuattischen Reliefs'' (Stuttgart: Verlag von Konrad Wittwer, 1889) in which he identified ...

's collection, containing important antique items. In the first decade of the 20th century, under

Franz Studniczka Franz Studniczka (14 August 1860 – 4 December 1929) was a German professor of classical archaeology born in Jasło, Galicia. He studied classical archaeology in Vienna as a pupil of Otto Benndorf (1838–1907). In 1887 he received his habil ...

, the collection grew again with around 300 valuable exhibits endowed by

Edward Perry Warren Edward Perry Warren (January 8, 1860 – December 28, 1928), known as Ned Warren, was an American art collector and the author of works proposing an idealized view of homosexual relationships. He is now best known as the former owner of the Warre ...

and

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

, including an important marble

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

Today

Today the collection contains around 10,000 original objects, chief among them numerous black- and red-figure vases, as well as over 600 plaster casts.Abgusssammlung
The cast collection. In addition to acting as an educational resource for students, the museum has been exhibiting its most important finds to the general public since 1844. Since 1994 the collection has been on display in the Alte Nikolaischule.

Notes

External links

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{{Authority control Museums established in 1994 Museum of Antiquities of Leipzig University Museums in Leipzig University museums in Germany Museums of ancient Rome in Germany Museums of ancient Greece in Germany Decorative arts museums in Germany Museum of Antiquities of Leipzig University 1994 establishments in Germany

History

Today

Notes

Further reading

External links