Mariemont’s collection of classical antiquities, which has been the subject of scientific research and publications since 1903, has aroused great interest since the outset.
By personal taste, Raoul Warocqué gave preference above all to marble and bronze sculpture, although the other arts are also well illustrated: pottery, painting and gold and silversmithing. The original feature of the current presentation is that it puts face to face the different civilizations that developed simultaneously in Greece and Italy, and then in the whole Mediterranean world. Thus the archaic and classical Greek cities are displayed in parallel with the Etruscan world. After 331 B.C., the date of the founding of Alexandria in Egypt, the development of the great Hellenic kingdoms anticipated the growth of Rome, from the Republic to the Empire. In addition, the sequence allows visitors to involve themselves as much in daily activities as in the history of ancient art.
N.B.: The Roman pieces found in Hainaut (and in Bavay, in the North of France) are displayed in the Archaeology of the Region Section.
