TAKING HOME AGAMEMNON : THE CASTS OF THE LION GATE AT MYCENAE DRIESSEN JAN

The Lion Gate at Mycenae is an icon, a piece of art more than 3300 years old, representing the glory of Mycenaean Greece. Preserved in situ, it has passed through time and circumstance, witnessing its own civilisation fail and many others flourishing since. Often considered as an emblem for the royal house of Mycenae, it is the only surviving piece of large-scale sculpture of the Greek Bronze Age. The quality of its creation, its symbolic force, and its prime position towering above the entrance gate to the site that epitomizes a period that gave rise to enumerable legends may be seen as framing the atmosphere in which this book was written. Already in the 19th c., the relief was moulded and casts were produced to be exhibited in museums and universities. This volume traces 33 casts, some no longer existing, and tells their stories. EDITION EN VERSION ANGLAISE