The gold trinkets and bowls on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin beneath the banner “Schliemann’s Troy” aren’t Schliemann’s and aren’t from Troy.  They’re reproductions of the treasures that the German archaeologist unearthed in Hissarlik, Turkey in 1873, incorrectly attributed to the Homeric city, and illegally smuggled from the country.  The find made Schliemann’s reputation, and a photograph of his wife Sophia wearing what he believed were Helen’s jewels caused an additional sensation.  Why did Schliemann dress her in the pieces, “every one of which is of inestimable value to archaeology,” and then circulate the photograph?

The jewels – or, should I say, the reproductions of the jewels on display at the museum – are truly majestic.  The diadem, earrings and necklace are crafted from shards of yellow gold hammered paper-thin that catch light and shimmer like a liquid.  They’re exuberant, excessive and dramatic; they’re exactly what an ancient queen should wear.   Sophia, with her high-collared dress, tight bun, and pursed lips, has really not gotten properly into the spirit of things. 

The Neues Museum, Berlin’s museum for classical and ancient art, is housed in a stately neoclassical building by Friedrich August Stuller.  It recently underwent an award-winning renovation by the English architect David Chipperfield, a project that began in 1997 and ended in October 2009. The museum is renown for its fine Egyptian collections and one particularly lovely bust of Nefertiti. I visited with high hopes for the architecture and no particular interest in the objects on display.

The renovation lives up to the hype; it’s a masterful blend of old and new constructions.  The original masonry walls and vaults have been scrubbed clean and mostly left as they are, exposing the layers of material the building is made of.  Frescoes and decorative tilework from the original galleries have been retained within new finishes.  Chipperfield’s design rubs up against the platitude that a museum should be a plain white shell.  It’s a rich, sensual home for the artworks.  The slender glass display cases are set out sparsely, pulling visitors through and offering generous space for gathering and repose.  And the soft lighting reveals the objects while maintaining a sense of mystery about them.  But the real surprise was the artwork.  Walking through the galleries, I felt as if I were seeing Egyptian sculpture for the first time.  Like the building itself, these old fragments of stone and plaster came to life.