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The Bubon Statue Departs: Farewell Display of Monumental Ancient Bronze
Tags for: The Bubon Statue Departs: Farewell Display of Monumental Ancient Bronze
- Special Exhibition
Tuesday, April 8–Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Location: 200 Rotunda
Monte and Usha Ahuja Founders Rotunda
Monte and Usha Ahuja Founders Rotunda
Free; No Ticket Required
Draped Male Figure, perhaps Marcus Aurelius, c. 150 BCE–200 CE. Roman or possibly Greek Hellenistic. Bronze, hollow cast; h. 193 cm. Lent by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye, 4.2025
About The Exhibition
From April 8 through July 8, 2025, this monumental ancient bronze statue of a draped figure of a man will stand at the center of the Monte and Usha Ahuja Founders Rotunda. Acquired by the CMA with best intentions in 1986, the statue was recently deaccessioned for return to Türkiye after scientific tests showed that it likely once stood atop a stone pedestal at Bubon, an archaeological site in Lycia (now southwestern Türkiye). Its temporary display in the rotunda, made possible through the generosity of the Republic of Türkiye and the District Attorney of New York County, celebrates the mutual goodwill and recent cooperative research efforts undertaken on the statue and at Bubon. This is a positive outcome to a lengthy process, an opportunity to share new knowledge about this longtime visitor favorite and bid it farewell before its reunion with other large-scale bronze statues from Bubon. Four text panels accompanying the statue explore its creation, pose, dress, and identity; the archaeological site of Bubon; recent scientific analyses and results; and legal and ethical aspects.
Sponsors
All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, the John and Jeanette Walton Exhibition Fund, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson. Major annual support is provided by the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm and the Frankino-Dodero Family Fund for Exhibitions Endowment. Generous annual support is provided by two anonymous donors, Gini and Randy Barbato, Gary and Katy Brahler, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Gail and Bill Calfee, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Joseph and Susan Corsaro, Ron and Cheryl Davis, Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Florence Kahane Goodman, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., the estate of Walter and Jean Kalberer, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, the William S. Lipscomb Fund, Bill and Joyce Litzler, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Jeffrey Mostade and Eric Nilson and Varun Shetty, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Dr. Nicholas and Anne Ogan, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, the Pickering Foundation, Christine Fae Powell, Peter and Julie Raskind, Michael and Cindy Resch, Marguerite and James Rigby, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, Elizabeth and Tim Sheeler, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Claudia Woods and David Osage.
The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
This exhibition was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.