An exquisite exhibition exploring the concept of beauty through 300 antiquities that have been gathered from museums and collections in Greece and abroad, is currently taking place at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.
On display are three hundred emblematic antiquities from fifty-two museums, collections, and Ephorates of Antiquities throughout Greece, as well as from Italy, and the Vatican. The majority are appearing for the first time outside of the museums of their provenance.
The exhibition named “Kallos. The Ultimate Beauty” was created by Professor Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis, Director of the Acropolis Museum, former Director of the Museum of Cycladic Art, and Dr. Ioannis D. Fappas, Curator of Antiquities at the museum. With selected exhibits dating mainly from the seventh to the first century BC (from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period) they are complemented by a handful of works of Roman times.
“The ancient Greek word Kallos means ‘beauty’ and is associated with both females and males. We wanted to complete the concept of beauty by also including elements from the philosophical beliefs of the ancient Greeks, elements of virtue, such as wisdom, heroism, self-denial, noble rivalry, and kindness. The Ancient Greeks believed that all these virtues were an integral part of beauty,” announced Sandra Marinopoulou, President & CEO of the Museum of Cycladic Art.
Visitors are able to see statues, vases, sherds (broken ceramics), mirrors, jewellery, perfume vases, accessories of the toilette and beautification (cosmetic unguents, pigments, and so on), objects of clay, stone metal, and terracottas of various periods, mainly Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic figurines, tools for styling the hair, such as iron scissors, little combs, and so on.
The exhibition also hosts a number of antiquities from Magna Graecia, enabling the visitor to understand the phenomenon of the dispersion of the notion of Kallos also to the Greek colonies in the West; with artifacts from the Vatican Museum, the Archaeological Museums of Florence, Naples, Rome, Bologna, Venice, Syracuse, Catania and the National Archaeological Park of Ostia.
A: Neophytou Douka 4, Athens
Dates: Until the 16th of January, 2022
Opening hours:
Monday, Wednesday, Saturday: 10 am to 5 pm
Thursday, Friday: 10 am to 8 pm
Sunday: 11 am to 5 pm
Tuesday: Closed
Images courtesy of Paris Tavitian © Museum of Cycladic Art