Current exhibitions at the Nicholson Museum

Charles Nicholson: Man and Museum

Sir Charles Nicholson (1808-1903) was both a man of his time, and in many ways, ahead of his time. Serving as Vice-Provost from 1851 to 1854 and Provost (Chancellor) from 1854 to 1862, he played an important role in establishing the University of Sydney and developing its cultural and artistic life.

This exhibition features a selection of his extraordinary benefaction of art and antiquities to the University. On the 200th anniversary of Nicholson's birth, Man and Museum celebrates his life and achievments, and the legacy he left for future generations in the shape of the Nicholson Museum.

To December 2009

Classical Fantasies:The Art of South Italy

The re-discovery of Pompeii in 1748 and the publication of Johann Winckelmann’s The History of Ancient Art in 1764 defined art history and archaeology as we know them today. This reawakening of the
Classical Ideal (or Neo-Classicism) was to influence art, literature, architecture, furniture and fashion design as well as people such as Josiah Wedgwood and Goethe.

Classical Fantasies will use the Nicholson Museum’s complete collection of over 200 South Italian figured pots from the 5th–3rd centuries BC as a backdrop to explore this extraordinary period in the development of modern culture.

Nicholson Museum
To December 2008

Shattered Glass: Illuminating the Past

From the Bronze Age furnaces of Mesopotamia to the tables of the Roman Emperor Nero, glass was a prized and magical material. Despite its fragility, many beautiful pieces of glass have survived through the ages, some in tombs, some underwater in
shipwrecked cargoes.

This exhibition features 40 glass objects from the Nicholson collection.

It explores the discovery, working methods and use of glass through the ages – uncovering legends and highlighting archaeological discoveries.

To April 2009

Egypt: Life and Death in the Black Land

From the cradle to the grave – and beyond. Statues of pharaohs, painted mummy coffins; amulets and scarabs; artefacts from daily life to the residue of death; the Book of the Dead; the myths, the legends, the gods.




The Nicholson Museum holds the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in Australia.

Throughout 2008