Head of Hermes (c. 200–1 BCE)
This weathered marble head once belonged to a herm, one of the most familiar and protective images of the ancient Greek and Roman world. It shows the bearded face of Hermes, the messenger of the gods.
Tag Mythology
Inspired by myths and legends, from sculptures of gods to illustrated tales. This category brings to life the fantastical stories that shaped ancient beliefs and artistic expression.
Olmec Anthropomorphic Figurine (1500–400 BCE)
The figure belongs to the artistic tradition of the Olmec, the earliest complex civilization in Mesoamerica. The Olmec flourished roughly between 1600 and 400 BCE.
Etruscan Sarcophagus (325–250 BCE)
This is the sarcophagus of Vel Urinates, an Etruscan man who lived in the 4th century BCE. It offers a rare glimpse into both an individual’s identity and the Etruscans’ complex view of death.
The Barberini Faun (220 BCE)
he Barberini Faun is one of the most immediate and sensual sculptures in the Glyptothek in Munich. It shows a young, powerful satyr who has collapsed onto a rock after a night of wine and dancing.
Herm of Ephesus Bust (150-200 CE)
A tall, quadrangular shaft rises and is crowned by the solemn, bearded head of a mature male deity—most likely Hermes, the Greek god of boundaries, travelers, and transitions.
The Vendel I Helmet (675–700 CE)
On Vendel I the pressed bronze plates show warriors, riders, animals, and motifs that scholars have long associated with Odin and his ravens. The crest ends in bird heads—almost certainly ravens.
Medicine (1898-1907 CE)
Gustav Klimt’s Medicine is one of the great missing paintings of European modernism: a vast, unsettling allegory of birth, suffering, eros, and death, painted for the ceremonial hall of the University of Vienna.
Danaë (1907 CE)
In Danaë, Gustav Klimt does not show a princess locked in a tower so much as a woman folded into herself. She curls in a near-fetal pose, auburn hair spilling across her face..
Judith I (1901 CE)
Gustav Klimt’s Judith I (also known as Judith and the Head of Holofernes) is one of the most magnetic and unsettling images in modern art.
Pallas Athene (1898 CE)
In 1898 Gustav Klimt painted a square canvas that still radiates quiet power. At its centre stands Pallas Athene, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and strategic war.
Cast of Statue of Apollo (c.460 BCE)
This is Apollo from the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia — a calm, square-shouldered god who raises his arm to still a raging battle
Marble Head of Herakles (1st century CE)
This finely carved marble head captures the Greek hero Herakles at his most human moment: exhausted after completing the twelve labors.
Torso of a Dancing Faun (1st Centruy CE)
Head, arms, and legs are gone, yet the fragment immediately reads as a faun—one of the wild, lustful woodland beings who followed Dionysus, god of wine.
Sleeping Hermaphroditus (c. 100–150 CE)
What appears to be a peacefully sleeping young woman might surprise you. As you circle the sculpture, the view suddenly shifts — revealing male anatomy alongside the feminine curves. A Hermaphrodite.
Statue of the Muse Polymnia (c. 150–200 CE)
The Statue of the Muse Polyhymnia (also spelled Polymnia or Polimnia), now proudly displayed at the Centrale Montemartini in Rome. Created as a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original, she represents the Greek goddess of sacred hymns, pantomime, and deep contemplation.