After touring venues in Europe, Asia and America, the major international exhibition ‘The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece’ is now in Australia for its final showing, at Bendigo Art Gallery, from 2 August to 9 November 2014.

Curated by Ian Jenkins, renowned British Museum senior curator of the Greek and Roman Department, the exhibition is a visually stunning and thought-provoking exploration of the human form seen through ancient Greek eyes.

For more than 2,000 years the ancient Greeks experimented with representing the human body in works that range from prehistoric abstract simplicity to the full-blown realism of the age of Alexander the Great.

Spread across eight galleries, the exhibition features more than 100 treasures from the British Museum’s world famous Greek and Roman collection. Subject areas explored include the representation of human experiences such as sex and desire, outsiders, birth, marriage and death.

Internationally renowned scholar and British Museum curator Ian Jenkins, and respected Australian artist Bill Henson gave a wide ranging lecture on art and society and the influence of ancient Greek culture and ideas on the exhibition’s first day. Audience members were able to ask questions and quiz the two on specific aspects of the ancient world and get the backstory of many of the pieces of art on display.

As part of the exhibition related events, short tours of ‘The Body Beautiful’ exhibition will be provided every Wednesday and Saturday at 12.00 pm. Tours are free with a valid exhibition ticket.

For more information visit www.bodybeautifulbendigo.com