A total of 240 antiquities and historical documents from 27 museums and institutions of the interior and four private collections, many of which are exhibited for the first time, frame the new exhibition of the Museum of Cycladic Art (MKT) “Chaironia, August 2, 338 BC: A day that changed the world”, a collaboration of MKT with the Ministry of Culture.

The report, which will last until March 31, 2024is part of the new series of archaeological exhibitions of the MKT “History of People” and is presented at the Stathatos Mansion and the Neophytos Doukas Wing, under the supervision of Dr. Panagiotis Iosif, professor at the Radboud University of the Netherlands and Ioannis Fappa, assistant professor of Prehistoric Archeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , of the two new scientific directors of MKT, as it became known today during the press conference and the presentation of the report to journalists.

As mentioned, much of the archaeological evidence is being presented for the first time. It’s about objects from the excavations of Polyandrios of Thebes and Tomb of the Macedonians. Objects that are either not fully published and known to the academic community, or are in museums in the Greek region. Also, many of the exhibits were thoroughly studied for the needs of this exhibition and are being published for the first time, since they were in the warehouses of either the local Museum of Chaeronea or the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Among the exhibits of the exhibition stand out the unique twarrior outfit from Igoumenitsa with the unique iron breastplate and silver-plated helmetthe exceptional aesthetic and historical importance Macedonian shield with the inscription of Vasileos Alexander, a product seized from illegal excavationsthe golden staters of Philip, Alexander and his Successors, the bones of the Hierolochites and the Macedonian fallen, the unique tomb of Tanagra, a tangible symbol of the importance of the battle in the Boeotian region as well.

The exhibition also features two marble busts from the Chiaramonti Museum of the Vatican, while the large “Unexpected Visitor” is the work “Alexander the Great” (1981) by Andy Warhol from MOMus – Museum of Contemporary Art, a version of the Alexander the Great series realized by Warhol after a commission from Alexander Iola.

The Portrait of Alexander the Great depicts the earliest “celebrity” that Warhol immortalized and is the only work created to commemorate an authentic ancient work of art.

An important part of the exhibition is also dedicated to the presentation of originals historical evidence and reports written by the pioneers of Greek archaeological research, Panagiotis Stamatakis and Georgios Sotiriadis, during their excavations in the Polyandrio of Thebes and the tomb of the Macedonians, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, respectively, in order to provide the most complete powerful insight into how archaeological research has brought the battle itself to light. Also of interest are the information on how the modern Greek state managed the battle and its monuments, as well as its reception by the press of the time: The battle, despite its importance, will be forgotten before they timidly begin to discover it tourists mainly since the end of the 18th century, when the marble fragments of the fallen Leo attract their interest. References in diaries and pictorial representations arouse the interest of the academic community, but also of local communities.

The report is structured in nine sections, while in the last one, “The battle of Chaeronea … today”, an innovative approach to the battle is attempted with modern means, targeting young audiences who do not necessarily have frequent contact with the museum space. In this section, one can see a diorama of the Battle of Chaeronea with hand-made playmobil figures specially made by the collectors Angelo Giakoumato and Tasso Panazopoulos made for the exhibition with the support of Playmobil Hellas, but also a narration of the story with the use comics.

“We focused on one day, on a very specific event, an event that is by definition violent, a battle, which we wanted in every possible way to strip away the violence, to see what its consequences were, to visualize them. We also wanted to see what came before, but also cover every nook and cranny that could go into the event itself. I think we have proposed a completely “holistic” approach to the event, I would say that the battle is only the occasion to start the discussion. We examine the event itself, what follows, we see what is this famous Hellenistic world that opens up after the battle of Chaeronea and we are still experiencing its consequences to this day. All the gold used by the western world up to 1492 is the gold that Alexander brought on his campaign. That is, things that had very long-term consequences and we are still experiencing them today”, explained, among others, P. Iosif.

“Particularly happy and proud” with this exhibition, Ioannis Fappas also appeared as, as he mentioned, he grew up, biologically and archaeologically, in Boeotia -which he considers his homeland and has a special interest in the region-, while he started his archaeological career 20 years ago at the Archaeological Museum of Chaironia. “The exhibition is unique because the objects are unique. If the specific objects did not exist, the exhibition could not be held”, pointed out, among others, I. Fappas, who for this reason especially thanked the colleagues of the Ephorate of Antiquities (EFA) of Boeotia, but also of the EFA of Thesprotia, “who entrusted us with immovable objects for the exhibition. If one of the two stepped back and did not give them, we would not be here today”, he noted, who also thanked the Directorate of Maintenance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Directorate of Management of the National Archives of Monuments, which “keeps treasures, archival material of incredible importance for the newest history of our country”.

The starting point of the exhibition is the battle itself, that particular day in August 338 BC, when the Macedonians under the leadership of Philip II faced in the Boeotian city of Chaeronia the numerically superior allied forces of the Greek cities under the leadership of Thebes and the political motivation of the Athenian politician Demosthenes. Philip entrusts the young Alexander with the leadership of the cavalry, the corps that will face the Theban Holy Company and decimate it. The consequences of the battle have a world-historical character: after it, the army of Philip and, above all, Alexander will reach the borders of the known world and bring unprecedented wealth to the Greek area from the treasuries of the Persian kings.

It is the Hellenistic period during which the traditional political balances of the Greek cities are disrupted and social structures are redefined. City-states move into a new administrative structure, that of kingdoms, where decisions are not made exclusively at the city level. It is a model of administration that closely resembles the member states of the European Union today. It is the period when a new man is created according to the model described by Homer, the one who “knew many states, learned the parliaments of many people”, as the organizers say.

“Today we are launching the exhibition ‘Chaeronea, August 2, 338 BC: A Day That Changed the World’, a major exhibition both in scope and importance, a historic battle that brought Alexander the Great to the fore and laid the foundation for the creation of the new world”, said, among others, the president and managing director of the MKT, Sandra Marinopoulou, who also made the announcement about the two new scientific directors of the MKT – “we want to give a step to the young archaeologists, they are the ones who must and they can take the reins, let’s trust them with the new way of thinking with their creativity and enthusiasm” -, while also referring to a surprise for the new year: In April 2024, as part of the MKT’s contemporary art program, will host the first museum exhibition in Greece of photographic works by Cindy Sherman, the famous American photographer, with visitors able to see more than 100 of her landmark works from her early series “which continue to inspire and influence the course of contemporary art”.