The closing ceremony of the exhibition “A Statue for Peace: Penelope’s Statue from Persepolis to Rome” on Sunday January 10 will be free for the public.
The exhibition, underway at the National Museum of Iran for four months, showcases four Penelope sculptures, one of which was found in Persepolis and three loaned to Iran by Italy, ILNA reported.
Earlier this year, the statues were put on display at the Prada Foundation of Milan, Italy for four months.
In 1940, the headless sculpture of a fully-dressed woman was discovered in the ruins of Persepolis in Fars Province. It is believed to be that of Penelope, the wife of Odysseus in Homer’s epic poem “Odyssey”.
The life-size statue of Penelope is made of marble and historical documents suggest it was a peace offering from Greece to the erstwhile king of Persia in 450 BC.
The three Italian statues are the first-ever non-Iranian historical objects loaned to Iran.
After the ceremony, the Italian statues will be returned to Italian authorities, and the Iranian sculpture will be permanently put on display at the National Museum of Iran.
