Museum of Cycladic Art

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Museum of Cycladic Art

The Museum of Cycladic Art was founded in 1986 in order to house the collection of works of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art by Nikolaos and Aikaterini Goulandris. The Museum is housed in a specially designed building on Neophytou Douka Street in the center of Athens, while since 1991 it has been extended to a new wing, the neoclassical Megaron Stathatou, at the junction of Vasilissis Sofias and Herodotou Streets.
 
1. The Cycladic Collection
 
Active on the Cyclades, a cluster of islands in central Aegean, between 3200 and 2000 BC, the Cycladic culture may now be studied only by its archaeological remains. The collection exhibited on the 1st floor of the main building contains 350 objects representative of every phase or type of artefact those islanders have left us, be that marble sculpture, pottery, or metal ware. Among the exhibits, the marble figurines claim prime position. They represent human figures, mostly female, with the arms folded above the belly. Their abstract form has intrigued many contemporary artists. The collection includes representative examples from all the figurine types, as well as a multitude of marble and clay artefacts.
 
2. The Ancient Greek Art Collection
 
This exhibition includes Greek artefacts from the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC) through to the Late Roman period (4th century AD). Most important categories of Greek art are represented by significant examples pottery, terracotta figurines, sculpture, metal and glass ware, jewellery, and a good collection of coins from the Cyclades. The Greek Collection is exhibited on the 2nd floor of the main building.
 
The 4th floor houses the Charles and Rita Politis Collection, donated to the Museum since 1989. This exhibition contains marble statuary, terracottas, jewellery, and an important collection of ancient bronze helmets.
 
3. The Ancient Cypriot Art
 
The Ancient Cypriot Collection (3900 BC - 6th century AD) of the Museum of Cycladic Art is one of the largest collections of Cypriot Antiquities in the world. It includes over 800 objects, which give the visitor the opportunity to study in depth the history of the island and its relations with other areas of the eastern Mediterranean from the 4th millennium BC. until the early Byzantine years (6th century AD).
 
4. The Stathatos House
 
This neo-classical creation by Ernst Ziller, a bavarian architect who worked extensively in Greece after it became an independent state in the late 19th century, was built in 1895 to become the residence of Otto and Athena Stathatos, a couple of wealthy Athenians who bequeathed it to the State. Since 1991 the House has become the Museums new wing. A collection of Greek artefacts, property of the Academy of Athens, is on permanent show in one of the ground floor rooms. The ground floor of the building, including a charming green-house rotunda have been preserved in their original state and may be visited by the Museum?s guests. The 1st floor has been turned into exhibition space, used for the Museums temporary exhibitions. The entrance to the Stathatos House is from the corner of Vassilissis Sophias and Herotodou Street, although access is provided from the courtyard of main building by means of a specially designed corridor.
 
5. Temporary Exhibitions
 
The Museum organises exhibitions on Greek Art and related subjects, or occasionally hosts similar events organised by other institutions.