Lichtgedanken 05

Rubrik 58 Collection exhibits on their travels The Friedrich Schiller University Jena preserves and works on several millions of objects in its 42 scientific rese- arch, display and teaching collections. The collections are central points of reference for a wide variety of research questions, are used for courses, and are freely accessible in the University’s digital library portal. In addition, items from Jena’s collections are always being requested for exhibitions. The LICHT GEDANKEN image gallery presents some of the items which, being lent, has left the University for a while, and are being presented in exhibitions open to the interested public. Picentes’ double-headed bull The six-by-five-centimetre trinket depicts a dou- ble-headed bull. The item dates back to the 6th century BC and is part of a collection of Iron Age burial objects from the central Italian people known as the Picentes (9th to 4th century BC). It was acquired at the beginning of the 20th century by the glass chemist Otto Schott and given to the Uni- versity. These pieces are now part of the Collection of Central European Archaeology. The tombs were discovered in Montegiorgio near Ascona. They contained helmets, weapons, brooches, jewellery, ceramics, and amber objects. The amber had travelled a long way: it was taken from the Baltic Sea coast to Central Italy where it was turned into artistic jewellery. The approximately 150 pieces from the Schott Col- lection were first presented to the public in 2005 in the »Treasures from Picenum« exhibition, which was held in the Schott Villa in Jena. Cerussite The nine-by-eight-by-seven-centimetre »cerussite« (also known as white lead ore) is from Russia and is part of the Mineralogical Collection. The mineral arrived in Jena in 1816, when it was presented as a gift by the Arnstadt mineralogist Dr Johann Lorenz von Pansner. Pansner was a student of the first Professor of Mineralogy at University Jena, Johann Georg Lenz. At the beginning of the 19th century, he embarked on a journey through the Baltic to Saint Petersburg. From there, he sent a range of the known Russian minerals to the »Jena Society for Minerology«. Between October 2017 and April 2018, an exhibiti- on was held in the world-famous Mining Museum in Saint Petersburg to mark the 200th anniversary of the foundation of the society. Together with other minerals from the Pansner gift shipment, the cerussite travelled from Jena back to Saint Petersburg for the occasion.