An exhibition produced by Dubrovnik Museums and the Narona Archaeological Museum, Vid.
This exhibition presents a selection of archaeological finds with depictions of mythological creatures found in ancient Narona. Most of the monuments come from the holdings of the Narona Archaeological Museum, but also shown are finds that are kept in archaeological museums in Zagreb, Split and Zadar.
Some of the monuments presented derive from archaeological excavations along the course of the aqueduct and in the Augusteum, and from the private collections of the local people. Others again have been included in the collection as accidental finds without any precise data as to where they were discovered.
All the exhibits have depictions of fantastic creatures. There are sculptures (statues of the emperors Augustus and Tiberius), relief depictions on funerary masonry, on lamps, on a coin, an appliqué, a cosmetic box and a gem. They are made of stone, ceramics, metal, bone and glass paste, and can be dated to the Late Republican and Imperial periods of Roman history. They show fantastic creatures from Greek and Roman myths, such as the hippocampus and other sea-creatures, Medusa, Pegasus, Cerberus, the Harpies and griffons.
The very diversity of depiction, the various materials and the many purposes of the objects tell of the omnipresence of fantastic mythological creatures in the everyday lives of the inhabitants of ancient Narona. The exhibition is visually complemented with illustrations and a video projection of the fantastic creatures.
Exhibition devised by Toni Glučina
Curator of the exhibition Ivona Michl
Exhibition design by Ivona Michl
A catalogue of the museum is available at the museum shop.