The Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens is launching a massive exhibition on Wednesday, 29 September entitled “KALLOS. The Ultimate Beauty” that features 300 ancient Greek works drawn from 52 museums, collections and institutes in Greece, Italy and the Vatican.
It will be the first time that most of the works will be on display in one place in an exhibition that aims to give an integrated picture of the Ancient Greek ideal of “Kallos” which inadequately translates as “Beauty” in English.
The exhibits which date from the seventh to the first centuries BC, range from the archaic to the Hellenistic periods, with some drawn from the Roman period where the original works of earlier periods survived as copies.
The Kallos exhibition includes statues, vases, shards, mirrors, jewellery, perfume vases and beauty accessories as well as objects in clay, terracotta and metal.
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The COVID pandemic afforded the exhibition curators, Professor Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis and Dr Ioannis Fappas, the opportunity to conduct ” a marathon of scientific research” to gather exhibits in Greece from the Ephorates of Antiquities and archaeological museums, including the Acropolis the National Archaeological, the Benaki Museums.
Ancient Greek gold jewellery on display. Photo: Paris Tavitian © Museum of Cycladic Art
Exhibit of terracotta objects. Photo: Paris Tavitian © Museum of Cycladic Art
Figurines on display. Photo: Paris Tavitian © Museum of Cycladic Art
Display of terracotta urns, a marble bust and metal figurines. Photo: Paris Tavitian © Museum of Cycladic Art
Beauty accessories and implements. Photo: Paris Tavitian © Museum of Cycladic Art Photo: Paris Tavitian © Museum of Cycladic Art
Exhibits were also sourced from leading Italian museums and the Vatican.
The exhibition is supported by the L’Oreal Group – the first time it has supported an exhibition “solely dedicated to Beauty in Ancient Greece”.
Prof Stampolidis said: “The exhibition ‘Kallos’, which focuses on ultimate beauty, invites you not only to look at but also, primarily, to see beauty through works of aesthetic excellence created by Ancient Greeks during a specific period of their history.”
The exhibition runs from 29 September to 16 January, 2022.
♦ The 768-page exhibition catalogue, as well as merchandise inspired by the exhibition are available from the Cycladic Shop as well as online through the museum’s e-shop.
