The exhibition “Return: Cycladic treasures on a return voyage”, through which 15 of the 161 priceless proto-Cycladic antiquities of the Leonard Stern collection are exhibited for the first time worldwide, was inaugurated on Wednesday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at the Museum of Cycladic Art.
A first step
The exhibition is the first step in the implementation of the ratified agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Museum of Cycladic Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York for the gradual return of the entire collection to Greece, while it is already the property and province of the Greek state.
The 15 archaeological treasures, ten figurines and five vases, cover a wide chronological spectrum that extends from the latest Neolithic to the Proto-Cycladic II period.
The exhibition is structured in three chronological sections in the same number of rooms of the Stathatos Mansion and includes works that are classified according to their typological criteria and the hypotheses resulting from research on the chronological matching of each type. The first section includes elaborate and rare vases and figurines mainly from the Proto-Cycladic I period (c. 3200–2800 BC), as well as a Neolithic figurine, so that the origin / evolution of the Proto-Cycladic figurines from Neolithic sculpture can be understood. The second section displays antiquities from the Transitional Proto-Cycladic I/II period (c. 2800–2700 BC). Included in this section are forms that herald the complete ones of the following period, with two stone and clay vessels belonging to special categories of Proto-Cycladic art. Finally, the third section includes figurines of the so-called canonical type of the Spedos variant, the most widespread and numerous of the Proto-Cycladic II period (ca. 2700–2400/2300 BC), as well as a marble pouring bottle.
The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual scientific catalogue of 180 pages that includes an introductory text on the Cycladic culture of the 3rd millennium BC, as well as a detailed, documented presentation of the fifteen Cycladic antiquities, together with unique photographs of the exhibits themselves and the Cycladic landscape.
Information
“Homecoming. Cycladic treasures on their return journey”.
Museum of Cycladic Art, Stathatos Mansion. 1 Vasilissis Sophia ave and Herodotou str, Athens
Duration: November 3, 2022 – October 31, 2023.
General admission: €12. Entrance to the exhibition: €6. Free entry for Friends of the Museum of Cycladic Art
Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 10.00-17.00, Thursday: 10.00-20.00, Sunday: 11.00-17.00, Tuesday: Closed
