Images

Early Cycladic 'violin' figurines in marble, 3200-2800 BCE. The figurines represent a squatting female figure but their exact significance is not known. Most probably they represent a female fertility deity. (National Archaeological Museum...

A marble figurine from the Cycladic islands, c. 2400 BCE. The posture and incised details are typical of Cycladic sculpture and the swollen belly may suggest pregnancy. The function of the statues is unknown but they may represent a fertility...

A statue by Giambologna depicting Hercules fighting the centaur Nessos following the latter's attack on Hercules' wife Deianeira as they crossed the river Evenus. 1599 CE (Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, Italy).

A Mycenaean terracotta stirrup jar, c. 1200 BCE. The name derives from the resemblance of the handle to a double stirrup. The handle is often decorated with a false spout whilst the true spout is to the side and separate from the handle...

A Mycenaean stemmed cup (1350-1300 BCE) in terracotta and depicting stylized seashells. (The Getty Villa, Malibu, USA).

A Mycenaean vase or krater depicting a stylized octopus (1400-1300 BCE). Provenance: Ialysos, Rhodes. (British Museum).

A Mycenaean vase (1300-1200 BCE) in the pictorial style depicting stylized bulls and birds. From a tomb in Enkomi, Cyprus. (British Museum, London)

A modern reproduction of the lost statue of Athena which once resided in the Parthenon of Athens. The 12m high original, sculpted by Pheidias in the mid-5th century BCE, was made of an inner wooden core covered in ivory and gold. In her right...

A portrait of the Greek philosopher Antisthenes (c. 450-370 BCE), founder of the Cynic school of philosophy. Roman copy of a lost Greek original c. 300 BCE. (British Museum, London)

A clay tablet with cuneiform from an Assyrian trading post, c. 1875-1840 BCE. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, L.A.).