Iconic art in cradle of Chinese culture

The Blessing from Gods section features works created in the transitional period from the ancient Greek to ancient Roman. Deities of the early Roman mythology are major subjects of the works. While the inheritance of classical Greek style is still visible, the works show a balance of solemnity and amiability of the deities, which are depicted in smoother lines and more casual postures.

The Grandeur of Augustan Arts section mainly features the busts of the Augustan period. The style of sculptures shows a completion of the Greek-Roman transition, with an emphasis on realism and details. The busts, or portraitures depicting real or realistic looking people, are one of the major contributions that ancient Roman sculptors made to the world. A bust usually features great detail in the facial expression to highlight the personality of the individual.

The Garden of Rome section aims to present the lives of ancient Romans by exhibiting sculptures, glassware and mosaic arts of that period.

The External Vitality section mainly displays sculptures and other articles relating to funeral and burial ceremonies during the ancient Roman period.

Thinking about life and death was a major part of the philosophic framework of the ancient Romans and was also a theme of the period's sculptural art.

Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture has influenced art in many regions of the world. And this influence also reached China's Shanxi province, said an expert at Shanxi Museum.

One of the three Buddhist cave art treasure houses in China, Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi's Datong city, is a monumental work of the cultural integration between China and the West. In the processing of creating cave statues more than 1,500 years ago, the influence of the Gandhara art was remarkable.

In the first century, Buddhism spread from Gandhara to China through the Silk Road. Along the route, a large number of Buddhist statues influenced by Gandhara culture were created, bearing witness to the thousands of years of cultural exchanges between the East and West.