Images

A detail from a Book of the Dead, on papyrus showing hieratic writing of Hornefer, Ptolemaic Period, provenance unknown. (Museo Castello Sforzesco, Milan)

A stone carved labrys or double axe, a common motif in Minoan art and architecture, Malia (1700-1450 BCE).

A section of the semi-circular seats at the end of the stadium of Delphi. Such stone seats behind the starting line were a common Roman addition to Greek stadia, these being added at Delphi in the second century CE.

Roman marble copy from the late 1st century CE - early 2nd century CE after a Greek original of 450-440 BCE (right hand restored). Possibly here as Hermes Psychopompos, leader of souls - the left hand beckons. Part of a monument in Athens...

The Birth of Venus (1879 CE) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905 CE). Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

By Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510 CE), commissioned by Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de'Medici for Villa di Castello (?).

A reconstruction of the clapper (Krotala), an ancient percussion instrument made from cane, shell, wood or metal. Usually held in each hand with thumbs and middle finger through the leather loops for stability, they were played much like...

A reconstruction of the ancient Greek stringed instrument. It was associated with the god Apollo, regarded as the most gifted player of the instument and patron of musicians. (Museum of Ancient Greek Musical Instruments, Katakolon, Greece).

A reconstruction of the forminx, a stringed instrument which was played to a singing accompaniment. (Museum of Ancient Greek Musical Instruments, Katakolon, Greece).

The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in ancient India and was originally built by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the...