Devotion and Decadence: The Berthouville Treasure and Roman Luxury

Devotion and Decadence: The Berthouville Treasure and Roman Luxury is back in the US for its last appearance at New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World from October 17, 2018
Silver cup with centaurs, Roman, middle of the 1st century CE. From the Treasure of Berthouville, recovered in 1830.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Jastrow.
Devotion and Decadence: The Berthouville Treasure and Roman Luxury is back in the US for its last appearance at New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World from October 17, 2018 – January 6, 2019. Recognized today as one of the finest surviving hoards of ancient Roman silver, the Berthouville Treasure was discovered by a French farmer while plowing his field near the village of Berthouville, in Normandy. The cache—comprising approximately ninety silver and gilt-silver objects dating from the first to third centuries CE—had been buried in a brick-lined pit in antiquity. The exhibit is organized in two sections. The first gallery presents the opulent cache from Berthouville in its entirety, offering new insights into Gallo-Roman cultural interaction, as well as art, technology, and religion in the ancient world; the second gallery contains precious gems, jewelry, and other Roman luxury objects from the Cabinet’s collections, opening a window onto the role of such objects in both daily life and religion.

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