Crocodile Mummies is the name of a new Art Gallery of Ontario exhibit opening on February 20 in honour of the lives and work of Gilbert and Stewart Bagnani, a couple with great ties to Trent University.

Crocodile Mummies: Stewart and Gilbert Bagnani in 1930s Egypt will introduce King Tut visitors and others to the AGO’s own Egyptian archaeological connection, in the persons of Gilbert and Stewart Bagnani, art collectors and friends of the AGO and Trent.

Gilbert Bagnani was a classics scholar, author and professor of ancient history at Trent University from 1965 to 1975. He married Augusta Stewart Houston (“Stewart”) in 1929. From 1931 to 1936, Gilbert was the Field Director of the excavations at Tebtunis in Egypt. In 1935 the Bagnanis purchased a 200 acre farm and house near Port Hope and named it “Vogrie”.

Stewart taught art history at Trent and together with students, she was instrumental in establishing an art collection for the Mackenzie Gallery at Trent. Gilbert received an honorary degree from Trent in 1971 and continued teaching until 1975. He passed away in 1985, Stewart in 1996. Their property, antiquities, art, furniture, books and papers were bequeathed to a number of institutions, including Trent University.

The AGO exhibit focuses on Gilbert’s less well-known early career as an archaeologist in 1930s Egypt, where he was accompanied by his wife. Completely unknown are Stewart’s drawings and watercolours of early Coptic church frescoes found at the Tebtunis site, and her unpublished descriptions and his photographs of native customs and local workers at the dig. While Carter unearthed Tut and found fame, Bagnani uncovered the Graeco-Roman site of Tebtunis (renowned for its hoards of papyri) in the Fayyum, and was instrumental in the opening of a second site at Medinet Madi, only to see his archaeological exploits forgotten.

The exhibit, which was mounted with archival materials drawn from the AGO, Trent University and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, will run from February 20 to mid August.

The Bagnani Legacy at Trent University

Over $1.3 million in philanthropic support from the Bagnanis has made a huge impact on the students at Trent University. Yearly, over 50 students benefit from the financial bursary support provided by the Bagnani Undergraduate Awards and the Bagnani Graduate Awards. The Bagnani Medal is awarded to students in the General program who achieve high overall standing on graduation. Trent’s fine art collection, faculty research, academic lectures and Bata Library have benefited from their generosity.

In March, Trent University will celebrate the opening of the new Bagnani Hall and Room at Catharine Parr Traill College.