For its new temporary exhibition, the Cité du Vin explores Antiquity and traces the evolution of wine’s role in Graeco-Roman civilisation. The exhibition aims to reveal the links established between wine, gods and men.

The divine nectar, wine, is also the drink of earthly banquets shared by men eager to get closer to the gods. Foremost among them is Dionysus, born of the love of Zeus and a mortal. This strange and crazy god, sometimes gentle, sometimes terrible, gives the vine to the men who welcome him and teaches them the art of drinking wine at the banquet, the Greek symposion.

Over sixty works (ceramics, sculptures, paintings) produced by the greatest artists of their time, including special loans from the Louvre Museum, the National Archaeological Museum of Athens and the Gandur Foundation for Art, will reveal the mythology linked to wine and its ritual consumption during ancient festivals and banquet

The exhibition aims to offer a living reading of Antiquity, revealing all that is currently known about this period and its imprint on our modern society. It is in this spirit that contemporary artists have been entrusted with the creation of monumental installations, to nurture a rich dialogue with the ancient works. The street artists chosen share a common visual language with the artists of Antiquity, allowing the evocation of some major myths from this period that have rarely been represented in art.