Lecture: "Would You Like an Obelisk or, Perhaps, a Temple?"

Lecture: "Would You Like an Obelisk or, Perhaps, a Temple?" with Elizabeth Macaulay, PhD (Professor of Liberal Studies, Anthropology, Classics, Middle Eastern Studies & Digital Humanities, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York).

Presented in conjunction with Hieroglyphs to Hype: The Modern Afterlife of Ancient Egypt (September 18-December 12, 2026)

Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation

About the Exhibition: This exhibition will explore the enduring fascination with ancient Egyptian art and culture (dubbed “Egyptomania” by 19th-century Europeans) through a selection of paintings, prints, photographs, and decorative art ranging from the early 19th century through the present day. These objects, from the humble to the refined, from the shamelessly commercial to the Afrofuturist, represent the range of artistic responses to – and misconceptions about – ancient Egyptian visual culture.

Paradoxically, this enthusiasm for Egyptian symbols and motifs contributed to the erasure of the ancient Egyptian people themselves, as their beliefs and customs became exoticized in popular memory. The exhibition will examine how these objects reflect the phenomenon of “Egyptomania” over the last two centuries and will position their oversimplified or stereotypical narratives in conversation with current archaeological understandings of ancient Egyptian culture.

The exhibition is curated by Megan Paqua (adjunct instructor of ancient Egyptian archaeology and art history and Fairfield University Art Museum Registrar).

Sponsored by Michael T. Vigario, ‘08 and Wealthspire.