Selling archaeology and anthropology: early medieval artefacts at the Expositions universelles and the Wiener Weltausstellung, 1867-1900
Bonnie Effros
The archaeological and anthropological exhibits included in the four Expositions universelles held Paris between 1867 1900 Wiener Weltausstellung Austro-Hungarian capital 1873, contributed to commercialization of antiquarianism granted international attention amateur practitioners these emerging disciplines. Displays artefacts human remains from migration period early Middle Ages, juxtaposed with more exotic ‘primitive’ art, permitted organizers broaden aesthetic sensibilities fairgoers promote acquisition native antiquities. Exhibiting private collections medieval objects likewise justified nineteenth-century concepts French ‘pan-Germanic’ identity by linking them iconic romanticizing barbarity this distant epoch.
Early Medieval Europe