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The Al Thani Collection
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How could you track the seasons in Bronze Age Europe? New Works on Display - In Focus: Bronze Age Sun Disc A copper alloy disc in The Al Thani Collection (image 1 & 2) was made for a woman in what is now Denmark around 1400-1200 BC and served as a calendar. Its size and spiral decoration link it with an elite group of comparable jewellery discs, like one worn around the waist of the so-called Egtved Girl, a teenager buried around 1370 BC and miraculously preserved in boggy terrain (image 3 & 4). Closely-related is the celebrated ‘Chariot of the Sun’ from Trundholm in Denmark (image 5): in this sculpture, a horse pulls a disc, one side of which was covered in gold leaf with spirals in relief. The notion that the sun is pulled across the sky each day in a chariot was later also held by the ancient Greeks. Image 1 & 2: Sun Disc, Denmark, Nordic bronze age, ca. 1400-1200 BC, Copper alloy, D. 24.9 cm © The Al Thani Collection. Photographs: Hughes Dubois. Image 3 & 4: Sun Disc on the “Egtved girl”, Denmark, Nordic bronze age, ca. 1370 BC, Copper alloy, Copenhagen, National Museum © courtesy National Museum Image 5: “Chariot of Sun” from Trundholm, Denmark, Nordic bronze age, ca. 1400-1200 BC, Copper alloy, gold, H. 35 cm. L. 54 cm, Copenhagen, National Museum © National Museum, via Creative Commons #thealthanicollection #althanicollectionfoundation #hoteldelamarine #exhibition #artexhibition #patrimoine #artinParis