Archeology Goes Graphic at the Louvre

The Petite Galerie in the Louvre is a fully accessible exhibition space designed to introduce new and inclusive audiences to the broad themes of the famous museum. This year's theme is particularly close to the heart of wonder | wander | women : relating archeology to graphic novels.

The exhibition relates the work of archeology to that of comic artists by exploring their surprising similarities. With their love of research and detail, comic artists have created works of historical fiction, travelogues, and even Indiana Jones-style adventures featuring archeologists themselves.

Alfredo Castelli and Giancarlo Alessandrini, Martin Mystére

Four themes lead viewers through the exhibition: the first, "Artists and Archaeologists", directly compares the work in the two fields. Which means our particular delight: sketchbooks!

Going through historical artefacts in libraries, in museums and on location, certain artists were invited to walk in archeologists' footsteps. They looked at journals of historical figures like George Legrain and Felix Thomas who helped introduce ancient civilisations to 19th-century audiences.

"Archeological Treasures": the next theme revealed the artefacts themselves which inspired the historical fantasies and National-Treasure-like adventures of many graphic novels.

Lapis lazuli necklaces and beaten bowls in the shape of shells

Ancient civilisations pose a mystery that endures in the imagination. We mine the objects they left behind and tell our own stories about them.

Sarcophagus of Tamoutnefret

"Classifying and Understanding" shows how we try to make sense of the pieces we have left.

Is a knife practical or ceremonial? Made for a cook, a priest, or a guard? Was it used in life, or buried in death, to protect its owner in their new afterlife?

"Interpreting and Imagining - Comic Books and Creativity" shows how research becomes stories. Archeologists publish their findings; artists present fully-realised comics.

Enki Bilal, The Carnival of Immortals

Old gods appear in new ways in graphic novels. Horus visits a cyberpunk dystopia; Mayan temples are rediscovered for modern adventures.

Cristophe Bec, Sanctuary

Humans love to tell myths in whatever way is most relevant and accessible to the present generation. Archeology Goes Graphic shows the thread that connects civilisation to history to fantasy; how exciting to see this evolving and anticipate what might come next!

Milo Manara, Giuseppe Bergman