PREHISTORIC TIMES
GEOMETRIC AND ARCHAIC PERIODS
CLASSICAL PERIOD
HELLENISTIC PERIOD
ROMAN PERIOD

The collection of Prehistoric, Ancient Greek and Roman antiquities, formed through the contributions of several Greek and foreign donors, as well as from the reserves of other museums, covers a vast chronological period stretching from the dawn of prehistory to the end of the Roman era.

The art of the prehistoric times (6th - 2nd millennium BC) is presented in chronological groupings (Neolithic period, Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age) with examples of pottery, tools and figurines from the Aegean islands, Cyprus and Central Greece. Mycenaean jewellery-making, in particular, is well documented by a collection of gold jewels which were discovered in a "royal" burial in Thebes.

The local artistic styles of the Geometric and Archaic periods (9th - 6th century BC) are traced through extensive collections of vases, jewellery and sculptures from Attica, Macedonia, Thessaly and the Greek islands.

The art of the 5th and 4th century BC. is represented for the moment by a small number of sculptures, and by a large collection of red-figure vases, mainly of Attic and South Italian manufacture, as well as by figurines, unique jewels and coins.

The numerous peripheral artistic tendencies of the Hellenistic period (3rd - mid 1st century BC) can be appreciated through marble portraits of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, outstanding examples of miniature work in faience and ivory, and pieces of Alexandrine pottery, as well as through a collection of gold jewels amongst which the so-called "Treasure of Thessaly" occupies pride of place.

The character of Roman art (mid 1st century BC - 3rd century AD) is represented by jewellery of the finest workmanship, examples of glasswork, marble portraits and funerary steles derived not only from the Greek world, but also from Phrygia and Palmyra. Two Fayum portraits provide a bridge between the Greco-Roman and Byzantine pictorial traditions.

BYZANTINE
POST-BYZANTINE AND NEO-HELLENIC
HISTORIC HEIRLOOMS
PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS