More than 1,000 years ago Greek artistic influences trickled into western China via the Silk Road and left their mark in the famed Mogao frescoes painted outside of Dunhuang in China's Gansu Province. In 2007 Autumn, the classical Greek art exhibition on display at Beijing's Capital Museum gives local residents the opportunity to view some original Greek art.

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More than 130 works of art are on loan from the Louvre Museum in France. The works include items from ancient Greece dating from the 5th Century BC to the 4th Century BC. They offer visitors an excellent chance to sense the grandeur of Greek civilization dating back more than 1000 years. 

The exhibition has been designed into three parts to provide a complete panorama of Greek civilization, revealing its social life, the mental world of the Greek people and their splendid cultural legacies. "Life in Ancient Greece" focuses on its art of pottery; "Ancient Greek Religion" displays a series of sculptures based on outstanding Greek myths while "Dialogue with Celebrity" presents the sculptures of great world-influential figures from ancient Greece including Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.

Another highlight of this exhibition is the maiden voyage overseas for a couple of masterpieces - the statue of "Athena from the Parthenon", "Ares - God of War" and the "Sculpture of Aphrodite", which previously was part of a collection of treasures that Louis XIV used to decorate his Palace at Versailles.

The exhibition opened on August 12 and concluded on November 9.

The picture gallery, particularly focused on Greek sculptures, was supplied by Wang Zhiyong (georgewzy@hotmail.com). He took these photos on August 26, 2007 when he visited the exhibition.

  (Click here to see more photos)

The Beijing Capital Museum

Add: 16 Fuxingmenwai Dajie, Xicheng District.

Tel: 86-10-63370491

Admission: 50 yuan ($7)

Open: 9:00-17:00 Tue-Sun

Website: www.capitalmuseum.org.cn/en/

(China.org.cn November 1, 2007)