The Harvard Art Museums have launched "Celtic Art Across the Ages," a first-of-its-kind exhibition that challenges traditional Eurocentric narratives focused on Greece and Rome. Spanning from the Iron Age to the modern Celtic Revival, the show features objects like the abstract Heidelberg sandstone head and the bronze Dea Artio sculpture to highlight a visual language defined by ornamentation and deconstruction.
The exhibition is significant for its critical deconstruction of the term "Celtic," which curators argue was often a label imposed by outsiders rather than a self-identified ethnic unity. By showcasing the sophisticated abstraction of these works, the museum aims to elevate non-classical European traditions and explore how the "Celtic" identity has been politically and artistically repurposed over three millennia.