ATHENS – The influence of ancient Greek art on Roman civilization and its continuing impact through the 20th century is the focus of the new exhibition ‘Inspirations: Ancient Greek Art Living in Italy’, which opened to the public June 16 at the Acropolis Museum.
Thirty-eight masterpieces – ceramic, bronze, and marble works – from museums across Italy are on display in the museum’s temporary exhibition hall through August 30. The exhibition represents a meaningful ‘homecoming’, in the sense of ‘nostos’ (return), as described by the museum’s General Director Professor Nikolaos Stampolidis, during the opening ceremony.
Coinciding with the Acropolis Museum’s 17th anniversary, the exhibition presents artifacts from various Italian museums as material testimonies to migration, cultural exchange, transformation, and reinterpretation through time.
Opening remarks were delivered by Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, Stampolidis, and Alfonsina Russo, head of the Directorate for the Enhancement of Cultural Heritage. Among those attending were Italian Ambassador to Greece Paolo Cuculi, Greek Culture Ministry Secretary General Olympia Vikatou, cultural figures, and members of the Italian community in Athens.
The exhibition “Inspirations: Ancient Greek Art Living in Italy” is on display at the Acropolis Museum from July 16 through August 30. Photo: TNH/Eirini Zachariadis
Both ministers highlighted the millennia-old cultural ties between Greece and Italy and the enduring relationship between their peoples.
Mendoni declared: “The Acropolis Museum is the ideal venue for this exhibition, which, by examining the influence of ancient Greek art in Italy, essentially explores and highlights the origins and evolution of a profound cultural exchange that laid the foundations of what we know as Western civilization.”
She added that Greece and Italy share not only a long common history but also deep friendship, mutual respect, and a common understanding of culture as a force for peace, cooperation, and sustainable development.
Giuli stated: “This exhibition was conceived not only to tell the story of Greek art, but also to show the many ways that art was received in Italy – how deeply it was studied, admired, collected, and transformed into a vast source of inspiration. And, if I may add, Italy never looted the art of other nations and has always sought to return it. This is the right place to say those words.”
The exhibition “Inspirations: Ancient Greek Art Living in Italy” is on display at the Acropolis Museum from July 16 through August 30. Photo: TNH/Eirini Zachariadis
Exhibition Sections
The exhibition is organized into seven thematic sections:
- Before Rome: Greek Merchants and Etrusco-Italian Aristocrats
- Artists in Magna Graecia
- The Sea as an Archive
- The Greece of the Romans
- Living the Greek Way
- Aristocratic Collections of Antiquities in the Modern Era
- Italian Perspectives: Canova, Savinio, and de Chirico
Featured Masterpieces
Among the highlights are:
- The Euphronios Krater (c. 515 BC), whose principal scene depicts the death of Sarpedon being carried by Sleep and Death.
- The Exekias Amphora (c. 540 BC), created by one of the greatest vase painters and potters of sixth-century BC Athens.
- The Ludovisi Throne (460–450 BC), famous for its sculpted relief decoration.
- A statue of a Nereid riding a sea creature (5th century BC).
- The Girl from Antium (3rd century BC), carved from Parian and Pentelic marble, portraying a young woman in motion carrying objects associated with a ritual ceremony.
Those are only a few of the exhibition’s many masterpieces.
Admission to the exhibition is free. Signs and explanatory material are available in Greek, Italian, and English, and visitors can scan QR codes for additional information about each artifact.
The exhibition forms part of a broader program of major cultural activities being organized in Greece by the Italian Ministry of Culture in the coming months, including exhibitions, concerts, and other high-level events, with the support of the Italian Embassy in Athens.
