The legendary figure of the Queen of Sheba: the history of Yemen from prehistoric times to the introduction of Islam.
[The Queen of Sheba. Art and legend from Yemen] The legendary figure of the Queen of Sheba was the focal point of an interesting archaeological and painting exhibition at Palazzo Bricherasio in Turin. A fascinating, complex theme, due to the wealth of recent archaeological finds that bring us closer to the historical reality of a queen and a reign both shrouded in mystery and often considered pure invention by scholars. The catalogue of the exhibition, curated by a committee of leading experts, illustrates the 500 archaeological relics from important museums in Yemen, Europe and American, retracing the history of a territory – Yemen – from prehistoric times to the introduction of Islam, when the flourishing civilization of “Arabia Felix” came to a definitive end. The section of paintings, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, analyzes about 20 works by the most illustrious artists, from Tintoretto to Rubens, in a comparative overview of the different iconographic representations of the biblical queen.