Oklahomans whose artistic passion embraces great works of art from the Roman Empire will not have to travel to Paris to see some of the world’s finest treasures.
Through an agreement with the American Federation of Arts and the Musee du Louvre, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art will be one of three U.S. venues in 2008 to offer the special exhibit “Roman Art from the Louvre.”

“Hosting a monumental exhibit drawn from the collection of one of the world’s pre-eminent art museums is an unprecedented opportunity,” Mayor Mick Cornett said at Wednesday’s announcement.

“Not only does it carry out the (Oklahoma City) museum’s goal of bringing great works of art to our city, which our citizens may otherwise not see, but it also showcases Oklahoma City as a destination of world-class stature.”

Drawn from the Louvre’s vast Roman art collection, this traveling exhibit will include figural sculptures, sarcophagi, marble busts, terra cotta statuettes, jewelry, silver pieces from Pompeii, mosaics and frescoes.

“The Louvre, thanks to Napoleon’s megalomaniac interest in the glories of Ancient Rome, has one of the finest collections of Roman Art outside of Italy,” said Hardy George, chief curator at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. “The (works) will be scrupulously arranged in a thematic manner that will certainly be visually and aesthetically pleasing as well as historically informative.”

“Roman Art from The Louvre” will be on view for 14 weeks beginning June 26, 2008. The collection will be displayed in the museum’s ground floor exhibition gallery, as well as the eight second-floor galleries.

Representatives from the Louvre will travel to Oklahoma City in late May to meet with museum staff in preparation for the exhibit. “Roman Art from the Louvre” also will travel to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Seattle Art Museum.

For more information, call 236-3100.