Ancient Thrace and Its Treasures Highlighted in Major Getty Exhibition

The J. Paul Getty Museum presents Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, an exhibition that explores the cultural relations between the Thracians and their neighbors over the course of two millennia (about 1700 BCE-300 CE).

On view at the Getty Villa Museum from November 4, 2024, to March 3, 2025, the exhibition will feature over 200 objects, including skillfully crafted gold, silver, and bronze metalwork, pottery, inscriptions, stone reliefs, and other artworks reflecting Thrace and its connections to other ancient cultures in the Mediterranean and beyond.

The land of Thrace lay north of the Aegean Sea, in an area that now comprises Bulgaria and parts of Romania, Greece, and Turkey (Türkiye). With few written records preserved, much of what is known today about this culture depends on brief, often biased, accounts from ancient Greek and Roman authors.

However, archaeological discoveries made in the region since the early 20th century have yielded extensive firsthand evidence of Thracian history, culture and society. These discoveries illuminate Thrace's rich resources and varied artistic achievements, as well as its unique position—geographically, politically, and culturally— between East and West.

"This exceptional exhibition is the first to focus on the interconnections and rivalries between the Thracians and their neighbors, especially Greece and Rome," says Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the Getty Museum. "For many of our visitors, this will be their first introduction to this fascinating and highly sophisticated ancient culture, which was both feared for its military prowess and cultivated for its rich artistic productions, especially silver...