The Emperor’s Gift

With this new presentation the Universalmuseum Joanneum tells the extraordinary story of a mosaic. Perseverance and scientific curiosity overcame bureaucratic hurdles to preserve cultural heritage for future generations.

In 1877, curator Friedrich Pichler secured funding for his excavation work from Emperor Franz Joseph I. A spectacular discovery soon followed: a Roman mosaic – a sensational find for Styria! Yet the recovery proved difficult: to preserve the mosaic, it had to be cut into pieces and stored. Despite the imperial donation to the University of Graz, the mosaic disappeared into storage.

The exhibition traces the decades-long struggle against oblivion. It shows how Pichler tirelessly advocated for a fitting display, how the mosaic was briefly exhibited in the interim, and how it eventually fell into oblivion once more in the course of the relocation of the archaeological collections. It was not until the late 20th century that the rediscovery began: after an intensive search, the mosaic was recovered, restored and finally put on permanent display in 1995 – entirely in keeping with Pichler’s original vision.

The exhibition uses a comic-style narrative to bring the challenges of preserving archaeological finds to life.

The new presentation The Emperor’s Gift will be shown in German.