A tour of the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens

Through more than 800 objects and artefacts, the Museum of Cycladic Art covers the very birth of Greek art in the protohistoric Aegean to the influence of Cycladic artwork on Classical culture and its gradual spread throughout the Mediterranean.

The Cycladic Art Collection 

Without a doubt, the signature exhibits are the creations of the Early Cycladic civilisations on the first flour, particularly the mystical marble figurines of men, women and faces. You’ll be introduced to artwork that is as beautiful as it is old, with a perfection of proportions and form and a simplicity that is bewildering in its beauty. There are objects from the Early Bronze Age and all three Early Cycladic periods (3200-2000 BC), with utensils, tools, weapons and jewellery made of marble, clay, metal and the highly cherished obsidian. Highlights include a 1.4m female figurine (the second-tallest of its kind in the world) and the Vase Pigeon, the most complete example of a poppet valve with sculpted birds. It’s astonishing to think that 20th and 21st century artists have been influenced by the subtlety of design, particularly the faces, and marble that is almost translucent in its whiteness – although it’s worth remembering that they would originally have been brightly coloured. 

Ancient Greek Art

Objects from the Middle Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC) to the end of the Roman period (4th century AD) are displayed over two floors, through which you will discover how artwork in antiquity helped shape so much of world culture and western aesthetics. In the 'A history in images' collection on the second floor, you can trace some of the most important social and political developments from the birth of ancient Greek culture to its creative mix with the Roman tradition. Part of the exhibition is dedicated to ancient Greek technology, with interactive applications, where you learn about ancient methods to make clay pottery and figurines and bronze weapons and tools, as well as gold jewellery and glassware. Moving to the fourth floor, the ‘Scenes from everyday life in antiquity’ collection focuses on objects and texts of the Classical and Hellenistic periods (5th-1st century BC), bringing to life public and private spaces, myths and religious habits and society’s relationship with death and the afterlife.  

Cypriot Art 

The most comprehensives collection of its kind, the Cypriot Art exhibition on the third floor includes more than 500 objects from the Bronze Age through to the Byzantine, medieval and even the Modern period. Included are ceramics, embroidery, scripts, coins, glassware and jewellery. Once again, some of the exhibits are extraordinarily old, with figurines and pendants from the 4th millennium BC made of Cypriot picrolite.