Gallery 1, September 26th, 2024 – January 5th, 2025

Curated by Dr. Noemí Espinosa

Featuring jewelry, glass, and ceramics, this exhibition draws on highlights from the Hispanic Society’s collection of antiquities. While few institutions hold such collections, The Hispanic Society can mount such an exhibition because its founder Archer Milton Huntington (1870-1955) had a comprehensive vision of Hispanic culture which included Spain’s archaeological history. The visitor will thus be able to see stunning examples from the different cultures drawn to the Iberian Peninsula from the Bronze Age through the Roman empire. These objects attest to sophistication and luxury of life in the Iberian Peninsula from those periods. Although most people today consider jewelry as serving an aesthetic function of adornment, this exhibition will show how these items also served as talismans and signaled the owner’s position in society. Similar functions characterize the ceramics and glass exhibited.

Throughout history, humans have aspired to surround themselves with beautiful things that today we could call the “good life”. The visitor might even ask, “were those times, thousands of years ago, the beginning of the materialistic societies of today?” This exhibition thus shows that the past is never too remote.

The show will also complement the Hispanic Society’s loan to Fordham University Visual Art Gallery of Roman Iberian material.