Collections

Antiquities

The ancient civilizations of the Near East, Egypt, the Aegean Bronze Age, Classical Greece, and Imperial Rome are represented by choice works of art that range in date from the fourth millennium B.C.E. to the third century C.E. Objects cover a variety of artistic media and include a comprehensive set of Mesopotamian seals, an Assyrian alabaster palace relief, sunken-relief hieroglyphics from an Egyptian tomb, a late Egyptian mummy case, a marble Cycladic figurine, a fine Greek pottery collection, and Roman bronze and marble sculptures. This ancient art survey is augmented with a rotation of vintage photographs of some of antiquity’s most prominent monuments.

Winged Genie Pollinating the Date Palm

Assyrian, Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 B.C.E.), alabaster, 94 x 90 inches (detail). Gift of Dr. Wilson A. Farnsworth, Class of 1848. 0.114

Relief from Giza

Egyptian, Old Kingdom, Fifth/Sixth Dynasty, 2520–2195 B.C.E., Mastaba G7911, Eastern Cemetery, Giza, limestone, 14 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches. Purchase with funds provided by the Walter Cerf Art Fund. 2005.022

Sarcophagus of Hathor-Mut-Netcher, Egyptian, Late period, Twenty-Sixth to Thirtieth Dynasty, 664–343 B.C.E.

Egyptian, Late period, Twenty-Sixth to Thirtieth Dynasty, 664–343 B.C.E., painted gesso on wood, 70 3/4 x 21 1/2 x 17 1/2 inches (detail). Purchase with funds provided by the Christian A. Johnson Memorial Fund. 2000.014

Mycenaean Psi-Figurine

Greek, Late Helladic IIIB (c. 1340–1190 B.C.E.), painted terracotta, H. 3 7/8 inches. Purchase with funds provided by the Walter Cerf Art Fund. 2006.008

Aryballos

Corinthian, Early Archaic Period (c. 575 B.C.E.), terracotta, H. 4 1/2 inches (detail). Purchase with funds provided by the Walter Cerf Art Acquisition Fund, the Frederick and Martha Lapham Art Acquisition Fund, and the Friends of Art Acquisition Fund. 2002.025

Black-Figure Kalpis

Greek, Attic, Late Archaic period, c. 520 B.C.E., attributed to the Rycroft Painter, terracotta, H. 14 inches (detail). Purchase with funds provided by the Walter Cerf Art Fund. 2005.023

Attic Black-Figure Amphora

Greek, c. 530–520 B.C.E., circle of The Antimenes Painter, terracotta, H. 15 5/8, dia. 10 inches. Purchase with funds provided by the Friends of Art Acquisition Fund, the Christian A. Johnson Memorial Fund, the Walter Cerf Acquisition Fund, and the Memorial Art Fund. 1991.002