Fogg Opens Rug Exhibition Today

An exhibition of Court, Village and Nomad Rugs from Turkey, Persia, and Central Asia will open at the Fogg Museum of Art at 3 p.m. today. The exhibition will continue until April 24.

Earlier this week the museum acquired an 1850-year old statue said by George M.A. Hanfmann, assistant professor of Fine Arts, to be the best example of colossal Roman statuary in America, both in size and in quality.

The statue, as it stands today, is the head and shoulders of what was originally a twice life sized man.

Its significance, according to Hanfmann, lies not only in the fact that it is a symbol of the barbarian world as seen through Roman eyes, but also that it is this type of sculpture that influenced Renaissance and Baroque art the most.

Carved out of special pink marble used only on imperial edifices, this statue, it is believed, originally appeared in the temple or triumphal arch of Emperor Trajan, who reigned from 98 to 117 A.D.