Images

A detail of the carved niches on the Arch of Janus which stood in the forum Boarium of Rome and was constructed in the 4th century CE most probably to act as a boundary marker.

The Arch of Janus in the forum Boarium of Rome, constructed in the 4th century CE. The four-way marble arch probably acted as a boundary marker and, perhaps not coincidentally, stands directly over the Great Drain or Cloaca Maxima which fed...

A detail of a 7th century BCE amphora displaying the common design motifs of the Geometric style of Greek pottery. The style was in use from 900 to 600 BCE in the Greek world and involved decorating vessels with simple linear motifs and stylised...

A large storage pithoi decorated with dolphins and lilies, 17th century BCE, Akrotiri. (Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Santorini).

The Papyrus Fresco from the Room of the Ladies from the house of the same name, Akrotiri, Thera. Papyrus is not indigineous to Thera and therefore suggests that the Cycladic artists were borrowing iconography from elsewhere, perhaps Egypt...

An architectural sculpture from Teotihuacan of Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed-Serpent god of Mesoamerican religion and mythology. He was regarded as a creator god and a god of wind by such civilizations as the Maya and Aztecs.

An Archaic marble statue of a Gorgon, the fearsome monster from Greek mythology of whom Medusa was the most famous. She holds a snake which is also wrapped around her waist and has a torso of scales. The statue dates from the mid-6th century...

Detail of the Mykonos pithamphora which shows the wooden horse the Greeks used to infiltrate the city of Troy in the final stages of the Trojan War. The wheels on the feet of the horse can be clearly seen. Manufactured in the second quarter...

A detail of the neck and handle of a Roman glass bottle (1st - 3rd century CE). The handle shows the common technique of adding handles separately and the folding over of the glass at the ends due to the glassmaker's lack of cutting shears...

The celebrated Portland vase, one of the finest examples of Roman glassware. The vase was made during the reign of Augustus (27 BCE - 14 CE) and displays gemcutting techniques used to create a cameo-like depiction of the marriage of Peleus...