Give Back
Every donation matters.
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Gunvor Lindström
May 21 @ 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
306 Royce Hall,
10745 Dickson Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095 United States + Google Map
Los Angeles, CA 90095 United States + Google Map
The Denavar Satyrs as Time Travelers: From Ancient Persia to Greece, Rome, and 20th Century Collections
The influence of Greco-Roman artistic traditions on the Parthian Empire (c. 250 BCE–225 CE) remains a subject of debate, with little direct evidence attesting to their presence. One long-overlooked artifact that challenges this assumption is the recently reconstructed Denavar Vase, a monumental stone bowl adorned with a satyr frieze in the Greek style. The reconstruction of this bowl—its fragments now dispersed across museums and collections on three continents—suggests that it once formed part of a local ruler’s palace décor, reflecting a deep engagement with the visual language of the Roman elite. The second part of this lecture traces the biographies of these fragments since their discovery around 1914. It will follow the track of famous scholars and connoisseurs who incorporated the pieces into their collections, and go on a varied journey through the art history and historiography of Hellenistic and Parthian art. This journey also explores 19th-century decorative arts and museum presentations, ultimately navigating the political history from the First to the end of the Second World War.
About the Speaker
Dr. Gunvor Lindström is a Classical Archaeologist with a deep engagement in neighboring disciplines. A leading expert on Hellenism in the Ancient East, she has conducted extensive research across Central Asia, Iran, and Mesopotamia, focusing on the Hellenistic and Parthian periods. Since 2004, she has conceived and led several high-profile projects at the German Archaeological Institute’s Eurasia Department. Her work on Hellenistic and Kushan Bactria includes studies of votive practices, notably the offerings from the famous Oxus Temple. She also discovered and excavated a Hellenistic sanctuary at Torbulok in modern Tajikistan (2013–2018), now a key reference point for Hellenistic Bactria. In recent years, she has focused on Hellenistic art in Central Asia and Iran, conducting the first systematic study of bronze and marble statues from Kale-e Chendar in Khuzestan (better known as Shami) and reconstructing a monumental bronze portrait statue of a Hellenistic ruler in the National Museum of Iran.