After I’d visited the Benaki Museum I headed practically round the corner in order to go to the Museum of Cycladic Art. Cycladic refers to the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea and the culture dates from roughly 3200 BCE to 1050 BCE. The collection was brought together by Nicholas Goulandris, a shipping magnate and his wife Dolly. It is one of the most complete collections of Cycladic art in the world.
The price of entry was €12 and though there was an app guide you could download on your phone I was running out of space on my mobile and decided to forego this. The collection is housed over two neighbouring buildings, a more modern building and a neoclassical mansion.
The highlight of the collection if of course the famous cycladic figurines which were vaguely familiar to me although I knew nothing of their history. The typical type of these figures is to have folded arms above the abdomen, slightly flexed knees and tilt of the head.
I was most intrigued to discover that more than 90% of the known figures represent women though as best I could tell no one quite knows why.
Other items that I liked included this ram, often found as an offering in sanctuaries of a male divinity, dating from 600-480 BCE.
And this funny creature – I’m not sure what its supposed to represent but it’s made of terracotta and apparently is a rattle dating from 600-580 BCE.
There was also an interesting section on life at the time with video enactments and some interactive displays that were very well done. Overall an interesting exploration of Cycladic art.
Louise Jayne's Blog 