The exhibition wishes to familiarize members of the public with ancient items and recent stories, all revealed in an exquisite ambient: The Stained Glass Hall of the George Severeanu Museum.
The exhibited objects are not well-known, being part of a private collection (the Maria and Dr. George Severeanu Collection) put together by Dr. Severeanu and donated to the Bucharest Municipality Museum in 1939. As any other private collection, it has its own unique story tied to the life of its founder, and mirrors, among other things, his personality, education, financial situation, social status, aesthetic and artistic tastes, also serving as a testimony for the socio-political paradigms specific of the time the objects were acquired.
A medical professional, George Severeanu (1879-1939) stood out as a pioneer in the field of medical radiology in Romania, attending specialization classes in Vienna and Berlin. Collecting items of historic and artistic value represented one of his favourite pastimes, a passion he inherited from his father’s side and morally and financially encouraged by his wife, Maria Severeanu, born Lerescu.
The items in the exhibition will lead visitors in a journey through the fascinating times of the past, from the Paleolithic to the first Iron Age, and the stories of the objects’ origins will help you understand the collector himself as well as his social relationships. The exhibition features prehistoric items from the Carpathian and Danube areas, pottery from Pre-dynasty Egypt or flint tools from Northern Europe, a mixture of objects essential for the understanding of how an archaeological private collection is put together at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as revealing the collector’s preferences for certain types of artefacts.
The exhibition is a continuation of the series of themed exhibitions organised by the Bucharest Municipality Museum, which began in 2013 at the George Severeanu Museum, a series which aimed to present archaeological finds to the public before the opening of the new base exhibition, scheduled to open in the autumn of 2017.
The exhibition can be visited at the George Severeanu Museum (H. Coandă Street, no. 26, sector 1), between February 3rd and April 2nd 2017.
Drd. Vasile Opriş