ἕν οἶδα, ὅτι οὐδέν οἶδα
All I know is that I know nothing
Allegedly said by Socrates
So true, 30 years in Education, and I still feel like a kindergarten student, curious and inquisitive, questioning, interested, prying …
The Consular Diptych of Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius
Consul Basilio with personification of Rome and chariot race, 541 – 541, Plaque of an Ivory Consular Diptych, 34.5x12.9 cm, National Museum of Bargello, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025Ivory Angel fragment of a diptych valve, 6th Century, Ivory, Museum of Ancient Art in the Castello Sforzes ...
Andy Warhol’s Kiku Prints
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987)Kiku, 1983 — Screenprint, 50 × 66 cm | Private CollectionKiku, 1983 — Screenprint, 48 × 66 cm | Private CollectionKiku, 1983 — Screenprint, 50 × 66 cm | Private CollectionShapero Modern, London, UK https://news.artnet.com/art-world/spotlight-andy-warhol-chrysanthemum-prints-1991310 ...
Martial Reportage and Archaeological Revelation
Photographer: Ariel Lowe Varges, American, 1890–1972Discovery of the ancient marble memorial plaque praising the virtues of Manius Salarius Sabinus for his benefactions by the 8th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers whilst digging trenches on part of the Birdcage Line defences between the villages of Aivatli and Laina (a ...
Empress Ariadne
Empress Ariadne (detail), around 500 AD, Ivory, Height: 36,5 cm,The Bargello Museum, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Marya Stamatiadi April 2025 In the heart of Late Antique Constantinople, luxury art served not only as decoration but as a statement of power and identity. Among these treasures are two exquisite ivo ...
Tomb of Hunting and Fishing
Etruscan Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, 520-510 BC,Necropoli dei Monterozzi, near Tarquinia, Lazio, Italy Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025 The Etruscans, a powerful and enigmatic civilization of central Italy, played a vital role in shaping the cultural foundations later adopted by the Romans. Renowned for ...
Robert Spear Dunning’s Apples
Robert Spear Dunning, American Artist, 1829-1905Apples, 1869, Oil on Canvas, 50.2 x 64.1 cm, Private Collectionhttps://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6519615?ldp_breadcrumb=back When I look at Robert Spear Dunning’s Apples, I can’t help but think of Robert Frost’s words… But I am done with apple-picking now. / Essenc ...
Guido Mazzoni’s Portrait of an Old Man
Guido Mazzoni, c. 1445-1518Head of a Man, 1480s, Polychrome Terracotta, Height: 26 cm, Galleria Estense, Modena, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025 Among the many treasures of Renaissance Modena, Guido Mazzoni’s Portrait of an Old Man stands out as a striking testament to the artist’s gift for captu ...
Poliochne on Lemnos
Poliochne on Lemnos, one of the earliest European settlements (Early Bronze Age, c. 3200–2100 BCE), with its maze-like houses and public squares revealing the social organization and daily life of its inhabitants. – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, July 2025 Visiting the ancient settlement of Poliochne on Lemnos off ...
Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu
Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu, Japanese Edo period artist (1796–1858), six-panel folding screens with ink, color, and gold leaf on paper, The Met Museum, New York, USAhttps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/48982 Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu, a stunning pair of early 19th-century six-panel folding sc ...
John George Brown’s Sunshine
John George Brown, American Artist, 1831-1913Sunshine, 1879, Oil on Canvas, 35.6 x 50.8 cm, Private Collection https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6519604?ldp_breadcrumb=back As the golden light of summer begins its slow retreat, John George Brown’s Sunshine offers a final, tender embrace of those lingering warm r ...
Head of Aphrodite of the Aspremont-Lynden/Arles type
Head of Aphrodite of the Aspremont-Lynden/Arles type, 1st c. AD copy of an original 4th century BC work by Praxiteles, Marble, possibly Parian (Marathi), Height: 32 cm, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greecehttps://blogs.getty.edu/iris/the-christian-empire-that-grew-from-classical-roots/ The Head of Aphrodi ...
Hephaistia on the island of Lemnos
Ancient Theater of Hephaistia, late 5th to early 4th century BC, Lemnos Island, GreeceOne of the most important monuments of Lemnos, this theater reflects the transition from the Classical to the Hellenistic world, later remodeled during the Roman period.Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, July 2025 When I visited the ...
Isabella Brant
Pieter Paul Rubens, 1577- 1640 Portrait of Isabella Brant, 1626, Oil on canvas, 86x62 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, ItalyPhoto Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025 Isabella Brant (1591–1626) was the first wife of the celebrated Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens and a woman of notable grace and social standing in ...
Kylix with a School Boy
Terracotta kylix (drinking cup), Attributed to the Painter of Munich 2660, ca. 460 BC, Terracotta, Red Figure, 7x20 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/250548 On September 11, as Greek students step into classrooms to begin the 2025–26 academic year, it feels fitting to look back, f ...
Michelangelo’s Bacchus with Satyr
Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564Bacchus and Satyr, 1496 – 1497, Marble, Height: 207 cm, National Museum of Bargello, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April, 2025 In the hushed halls of the Bargello Museum, Michelangelo’s Bacchus with Satyr stands as a marble echo of divine intoxication and poetic ...
Marigolds
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English, 1828 - 1882Marigolds or Bower Maiden, 1873, Oil on Canvas, 114.3 x 73.66 cm, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, UK https://useum.org/artist/Dante-Gabriel-Rossetti When Dante Gabriel Rossetti introduced Marigolds (also known as The Bower Maiden) to his patron Frederick Leyland ...