Attic black-figure volute krater known as the François Vase showing multiple mythological scenes in horizontal friezes, by Kleitias and Ergotimos, c. 570–565 BC.

François Vase

by Ancient Greek ArtArchaeologyArtEducationGreek ArtPotteryPowerpointsStudent Activities
Attic black-figure volute krater known as the François Vase showing multiple mythological scenes in horizontal friezes, by Kleitias and Ergotimos, c. 570–565 BC.
Kleitias(painter) and Ergotimos(potter)
François Vase, Side A (right) and Side B (left), large Attic volute krater decorated in the black-figure style, c. 570-565 BC, Height: 66 cm, National Archaeological Museum, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025

Discover one of the greatest masterpieces of ancient Greek ceramics, the François Vase, a magnificent black-figure krater signed by the potter Ergotimos and the painter Kleitias. Covered with more than two hundred finely drawn figures, it unfolds a vibrant panorama of myth: weddings, hunts, battles, heroes, and gods, all rendered with exquisite narrative clarity. This monumental vessel invites us to marvel at the artistry and storytelling brilliance that flourished in Athens during the 6th century BC, where every detail contributes to a world alive with legend and ceremony.

4 Unique Facts About the François Vase

1. A Collaboration of Masters
The François Vase is signed by both its creators, Ergotimos, the potter, and Kleitias, the painter—an exceptional practice in early 6th-century BCE Athens that underscores the prestige of their collaboration. Their signatures appear proudly on the vase in Greek—ΕΡΓΟΤΙΜΟΣ Μ’ΕΠΟΙΕΣΕΝ (“Ergotimos made me”) and ΚΛΕΙΤΙΑΣ Μ’ΕΓΡΑΦΣΕΝ (“Kleitias painted me”)—asserting authorship at a moment when most artisans remained anonymous.

Painted inscriptions on the François Vase explicitly name its makers: Ergotimos as potter and Kleitias as painter.
Kleitias(painter) and Ergotimos(potter)
François Vase, Detail with painted label (left) identifies Ergotimos as the potter; painted label (right) identifies Kleitias as the painter, large Attic volute krater decorated in the black-figure style, c. 570-565 BC, Height: 66 cm, National Archaeological Museum, Florence, Italy https://smarthistory.org/francois-vase/
This François Vase detail depicts the chariot race organized by Achilles in honor of the fallen Patroklos, a key episode from Homer’s Iliad.
Kleitias(painter) and Ergotimos(potter)
François Vase, Detail chariot race organized by Achilles in honor of Patroklos, large Attic volute krater decorated in the black-figure style, c. 570-565 BC, Height: 66 cm, National Archaeological Museum, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025

Ergotimos was renowned for his technical mastery, creating a large and perfectly balanced volute krater whose complex shape was articulated into seven carefully organized friezes or bands, providing an ambitious and orderly framework for visual storytelling. Kleitias, working in the Attic black-figure technique, was among the most innovative painters of his generation, populating the surface with an astonishing 270 humans, 121 of which are identified by inscriptions. His meticulous incision, use of added red and white, and deployment of boustrophedon writing, in which the direction of the text alternates from left to right and right to left, guide the viewer through densely packed mythological narratives, transforming the vase into a systematic and encyclopedic compendium of myth.

2. A Mythological Encyclopedia in Bands
The François Vase functions as a comprehensive visual encyclopedia of Greek mythology, its narratives meticulously organised into horizontal friezes or bands that allow the viewer to “read” the stories in a structured sequence from neck to foot (see image). On the neck, two friezes unfold: above, the Calydonian Boar Hunt on Side A and the dance of Theseus and the Athenian youths celebrating their escape from Crete on Side B; below, the chariot race from the funeral games for Patroklos (A) faces the battle between Lapiths and Centaurs (B). Encircling the shoulder of the vase is a continuous frieze of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, attended by a solemn procession of Olympian gods, uniting both sides in a single mythic event.

François Vase: The mythological scenes arranged in horizontal friezes; Attic black-figure volute krater by Kleitias and Ergotimos, c. 570–565 BC.

On the lower body, Side A shows Achilles in pursuit of Troilos, while Side B depicts the return of Hephaistos to Olympus, carried by Dionysos. Beneath these scenes, a lower register of sphinxes, animal combats, and palmette ornament anchors the narrative world in decorative rhythm. Even the vessel’s structural elements carry myth: the foot presents the comic yet symbolic battle between pygmies and cranes, while the handles feature Ajax bearing the body of Achilles and Artemis, the Mistress of Beasts, extending the storytelling to every surface of the krater.

3. Mastery of Black-Figure Technique
The François Vase is a prime example of the black-figure technique, in which figures are painted in black slip, with added white and purple used to distinguish female flesh and details of drapery. Details were then incised through the black slip to reveal the clay beneath, allowing for intricate depictions of anatomy, expression, and movement—bringing mythological scenes vividly to life.

Ajax carries the fallen body of Achilles from the battlefield, a poignant moment drawn from the Trojan War cycle.
Kleitias(painter) and Ergotimos(potter)
François Vase, Detail with Ajax carrying the body of Achilles on the handle of the vase, large Attic volute krater decorated in the black-figure style, c. 570-565 BC, Height: 66 cm, National Archaeological Museum, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025

 Alongside this technical virtuosity, the vase preserves key features of the Orientalizing period, including mythological creatures such as gryphons and sphinxes, as well as exotic vegetal motifs—notably the lotus and palmette—which appear in subsidiary registers and decorative zones. These Near Eastern–inspired elements enrich the narrative imagery and reflect the cosmopolitan visual language shaping Athenian art in the early sixth century BC. Beyond gods and heroes, the vase offers glimpses of contemporary Greek society. Scenes of warriors, chariots, and domestic life reveal clothing, armor, and social customs, making it a rich historical resource as well as an artistic masterpiece.

4. A Journey Through Time
Unearthed in 1844 in an Etruscan tomb near Chiusi, the François Vase bears witness to the far-reaching cultural exchanges between Archaic Athens and Etruria, where Attic pottery was highly prized from as early as the seventh century BCE. Produced in Athens and exported to Italy—likely through major Etruscan centers such as Vulci—the vase was discovered fragmented in a chamber tomb at Fonte Rotella, already looted in antiquity, underscoring its long and complex biography even before modern times.

Following its discovery, the surviving fragments were sent to Florence and first reassembled in 1845 by the restorer Vincenzo Manni, who reconstructed the krater’s original form despite missing pieces. The vase’s modern history has been equally dramatic: in 1900, it was shattered into more than 600 fragments after a museum incident, yet painstakingly restored by Pietro Zei, who achieved an almost complete reconstruction and incorporated newly identified fragments. Further conservation followed in 1902, and again in 1973, after the devastating 1966 Florence flood caused additional damage. Today, preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Florence, the François Vase stands not only as a masterpiece of Archaic Greek art but also as a rare survivor shaped by centuries of loss, recovery, and restoration—linking the ancient Mediterranean world with modern scholarship.

François Vase: Student bulletin board exhibition for Grade 6 Social Studies at Pinewood, The American International School of Thessaloniki.
François Vase Student Activity for Social Studies Grade 6, Bullet Board Exhibition, Pinewood, The American International School of Thessaloniki – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou https://www.teachercurator.com/ancient-greek-art/inspired-by-the-francois-vase/

The François Vase isn’t just a ceramic vessel, it’s a window into the imagination, artistry, and daily life of ancient Greece. Each figure, frieze, and inscription invites us to step into a world where myths lived vividly and storytelling was a celebrated art. Whether admired for its technical brilliance or its epic narratives, the vase continues to captivate visitors at the Archaeological Museum of Florence, reminding us that the stories of heroes and gods are as enduring as the artistry that preserves them.

For a PowerPoint Presentation of the François Vase, please… Click HERE!

If interested, explore my Blog Post titled Inspired by the François Vase… https://www.teachercurator.com/ancient-greek-art/inspired-by-the-francois-vase/

Bibliography: University of California Press E-Books: The François Vase https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft1f59n77b&chunk.id=d0e2374&toc.depth=1&toc.id=&brand=ucpress and Florence Inferno: The François Vase https://www.florenceinferno.com/the-francois-vase/ and smarthistory: The François Vase: story book of Greek mythology https://smarthistory.org/francois-vase/

Byzantine floor mosaic fragment showing a richly bejeweled female figure holding a Roman measuring tool identified as Ktisis, the personification of generous foundation, with a partially visible male figure holding a cornucopia at left; made of marble and glass, ca. 500–550, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Ktisis

by ArchaeologyArtByzantine ArtByzantine MosaicsByzantiumEarly Christian ArtEducationPowerpointsStudent ActivitiesWorksheets
Byzantine floor mosaic fragment showing a richly bejeweled female figure holding a Roman measuring tool identified as Ktisis, the personification of generous foundation, with a partially visible male figure holding a cornucopia at left; made of marble and glass, ca. 500–550, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Fragment of a Floor Mosaic with a Personification of Ktisis, 500–550, with modern restoration, Marble and Glass, 151.1 x 199.7 x 2.5 cm, the MET, NY, USA
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/469960

Step into the symbolic world of Late Antiquity through this remarkable mosaic fragment portraying Ktisis, the ancient personification of creation, foundation, and civic generosity. With her richly ornamented garments, expressive gaze, and accompanying figure holding a cornucopia, she embodies the ideals of prosperity and well-ordered society. Once part of an elegant floor, this mosaic invites us to reflect on how art, mythology, and civic identity were woven seamlessly into daily life in the ancient Mediterranean.

At the center of the composition appears the personification of Ktisis, depicted frontally with large, expressive eyes that engage the viewer directly and lend the figure a commanding, almost iconic presence. Her softly modeled face is framed by carefully arranged curls and crowned with a jeweled headband, details that underscore refinement and elevated status. She wears a richly patterned garment fastened with an ornate necklace, the dense ornamentation and shimmering tesserae emphasizing dignity, wealth, and abundance. In her hand she holds a Roman copper tool called a foot ruler, a clear visual sign of engineering closely tied to her symbolic role. The Greek inscription naming Ktisis identifies her unambiguously, guiding the viewer’s interpretation of the scene. To the left, a smaller standing male figure advances toward her holding a cornucopia, the classical emblem of plenty; an inscription beside him identifies his role and further clarifies the allegorical program of the mosaic. Scholars have suggested that Ktisis was originally flanked symmetrically by a second small male figure on her right, now lost, which would have created a more balanced composition emphasizing abundance and benefaction on both sides. Even in its fragmentary state, the surviving figure establishes a subtle narrative exchange that reinforces themes of prosperity, order, and civic well-being while enlivening the scene.

In late antiquity, Ktisis embodied the concepts of foundation, creation, and benefaction. She was closely associated with the act of building and with the generosity of patrons who endowed structures for private or communal use. Her presence in a floor mosaic would have communicated prosperity, stability, and divine or civic favor, transforming the architectural space into a visual statement of success and legitimacy.

Stylistically, the mosaic reflects a transitional moment between classical naturalism and the emerging Byzantine aesthetic. Subtle modeling of the face coexists with an increasingly abstracted body and decorative emphasis on surface pattern. The shimmering marble and glass tesserae enhance the figure’s presence, while the frontal pose and enlarged eyes anticipate later Byzantine iconography.

As a floor mosaic, this image would have been encountered from above and at close range, integrated into the rhythm of daily movement. Walking across the figure of Ktisis reinforced her symbolic role: prosperity and benefaction quite literally underfoot, embedded in the fabric of the building itself. The mosaic thus functioned not only as decoration but as a constant visual assertion of order and well-being.

Seen today as a fragment and displayed vertically, the mosaic invites a different kind of engagement. Removed from its architectural setting, it becomes an object of focused contemplation rather than lived experience. Yet even in isolation, the figure of Ktisis continues to speak eloquently about late antique values, patronage, and the evolving language of Byzantine art.

For a Student Activity inspired by the Roman Foot Ruler, please… Check HERE!

For a PowerPoint Presentation of Activities created by my students, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/469960 and Dr. Evan Freeman and Dr. Anne McClanan, “Byzantine Mosaic of a Personification, Ktisis,” in Smarthistory, February 3, 2020, accessed December 11, 2025, from smarthistory https://smarthistory.org/byzantine-ktisis/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsvOinFR1qs and Personifications of KTISIS in early Byzantine mosaics, by Rederic Lecut, and from Academia https://www.academia.edu/42068332/Personifications_of_KTISIS_in_early_Byzantine_mosaics

Mirrored room with countless multicolored LED lights reflecting endlessly, creating the illusion of infinite space by Yayoi Kusama in the Guggenheim, Bilbao.

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room

by 20th century ArtArtStudent Activities
Mirrored room with countless multicolored LED lights reflecting endlessly, creating the illusion of infinite space by Yayoi Kusama in the Guggenheim, Bilbao.
Yayoi Kusama, b. 1929
Infinity Mirrored Room – A Wish for Human Happiness Calling from Beyond the Universe, 2020, Mirrors, wood, LED lighting system, metal and acrylic panel
293.7 × 417 × 417 cm, Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, Spring 2024

As the year draws to a close and we turn our thoughts toward renewal, Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – A Wish for Human Happiness Calling from Beyond the Universe feels especially resonant. Inside this glowing chamber of reflections and color, time seems to dissolve, we’re surrounded by an endless constellation of lights that echo both our dreams and our fragility. Kusama, now in her nineties, transforms her lifelong visions into a universal wish for happiness and connection. Standing within her mirrored infinity, we are invited to let go of boundaries and imagine a world where light, like hope, multiplies without end.

Rather than simply offering spectacle, Kusama’s mirrored room opens a path inward, toward reflection, empathy, and the dissolution of the self. The rhythmic interplay of light and shadow evokes the bodily act of breathing, creating an immersive environment that mirrors both the fragility and persistence of life. Within this spatial choreography, viewers become part of the artwork itself, their reflections multiplying until individuality gives way to a collective presence. Kusama transforms the visual language of repetition, often associated with compulsion or anxiety, into a meditative gesture that suggests endurance, healing, and transcendence.

Her sustained engagement with repetition and reflection emerged from deeply personal experiences of hallucination, which she has long described as both tormenting and visionary. By externalizing these internal visions, Kusama converts psychological intensity into aesthetic experience. The Infinity Mirror Rooms thus function as both self-portrait and cosmology: spaces where personal trauma expands into universal form. The viewer’s image, endlessly reproduced and dissolved, echoes Kusama’s own quest to reconcile selfhood with infinity. In this mirrored glow, individuality is neither lost nor affirmed but transformed into a shared awareness of impermanence and renewal.

A self-portrait of Yayoi Kusama surrounded by polka dots, pumpkins, and repeating patterns on a bright yellow background.
Yayoi Kusama, b. 1929
Self-Portrait, 2015, Acrylic on Canvas, 145.5×112 cm, Collection of Amoli Foundation
https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/exhibition/self-portrait

From Personal Vision to Universal Experience

Yayoi Kusama, born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, is a pioneering contemporary artist whose work spans painting, sculpture, performance, and installation. From an early age, she experienced vivid hallucinations and obsessive visions, often of patterns and repetitive dots, which deeply influenced her artistic language. These lifelong obsessions with infinity and self-obliteration culminated in her immersive Infinity Mirror Rooms, first created in the 1960s. By surrounding viewers with mirrored walls, glowing lights, and endless reflections, these installations externalize Kusama’s internal experiences, creating a sense of boundlessness and allowing audiences to step into her unique perception of the universe, where the boundaries between self and environment dissolve.

As we approach the New Year, Kusama’s mirrored infinity becomes a gentle reminder of continuity and renewal. Each point of light suggests a possibility, each reflection a chance to see the world anew. Her wish for “human happiness” extends beyond the room, echoing outward — a constellation of hope for the year to come.

For a Student Activity inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms, please… Click HERE!

Bibliography: from the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/the-collection/works/infinity-mirrored-room-a-wish-for-human-happiness-calling-from-beyond-the-universe  and the TATE Modern https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/yayoi-kusama-infinity-mirror-rooms and from the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, USA https://high.org/exhibition/yayoi-kusama-infinity-mirrors/

A tired young salesgirl slumps on a stool in a department store on Christmas Eve, surrounded by gift boxes and wrapping paper, conveying holiday exhaustion through Norman Rockwell’s realistic style.

Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve

by 20th century ArtAmerican ArtStudent ActivitiesUncategorizedWorksheets
A tired young salesgirl slumps on a stool in a department store on Christmas Eve, surrounded by gift boxes and wrapping paper, conveying holiday exhaustion through Norman Rockwell’s realistic style.
Norman Rockwell, American Artist, 1894-1978
Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve, 1947, Oil on Canvas, 77.2×71.8 cm, Private Collection
https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09939/lot.19.html?locale=en

Under the soft glow of a dim shop light, Norman Rockwell captures a rare moment of quiet humanity in Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve. Departing from his more festive and bustling holiday scenes, Rockwell instead lingers in stillness, an ode to the unseen fatigue and quiet dignity behind the season’s glittering façade. The weary young woman, slumped in exhaustion yet imbued with humble strength, invites viewers to pause and reflect on the hidden cost of holiday cheer. Through Rockwell’s tender realism, the painting becomes not merely a portrait of fatigue but a meditation on empathy, perseverance, and the fragile beauty found in life’s most ordinary moments.

Norman Rockwell and Postwar America

Painted in 1947, Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve emerged during a period when Norman Rockwell’s art both comforted and gently challenged postwar America. Known for his warm, narrative depictions of American life, Rockwell was celebrated for scenes of family gatherings, civic pride, and small-town cheer. Yet beneath his accessible style lay a deep interest in the quiet realities that accompany those ideals.

The Saturday Evening Post Cover of 1947

This painting first appeared on the December 27, 1947, cover, of the The Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell’s image, however, defied the glossy optimism often associated with holiday imagery. Rather than portraying festive joy, he chose to honor the fatigue of those who made it possible, the clerks, shop assistants, and unseen workers who sustained the season’s magic. In doing so, Rockwell bridged the gap between commercial illustration and social observation, creating a moment of artful empathy within a mass-market context.

Visual Storytelling and Quiet Exhaustion

In this work, Rockwell captures the quiet exhaustion of a department store employee after the frenzy of last-minute Christmas shopping. The young woman slumps against the wall, her shoes kicked off and forgotten among scraps of wrapping paper and discarded toys. Behind her, a crooked sign announces the store’s closing at 5:00 p.m., while her watch reads 5:05 — a subtle detail that deepens the sense of fatigue. A soft amber light pools around her, isolating her from the dim surroundings and transforming a moment of weariness into one of tender humanity. The forlorn dolls that echo her pose yet wear painted smiles emphasize Rockwell’s gift for visual storytelling, revealing the bittersweet undercurrent of the holiday season.

Every surface carries evidence of touch: the texture of fabric, the gleam of glass, the faint sheen of perspiration on her brow. Yet the tone remains tender rather than pitiful. Rockwell paints her not as a figure of complaint, but of endurance, a study in quiet perseverance and human worth. The restrained palette and focused lighting draw the viewer inward, evoking a sense of stillness rarely found in his more bustling compositions.

Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve reveals Rockwell’s capacity to dignify the ordinary. By choosing this moment of rest, he acknowledges the hidden labor behind holiday abundance. The young woman’s weariness speaks not only to her physical fatigue but to a universal truth: that celebration often depends on invisible work.

In the context of 1940s America, a nation balancing prosperity with postwar fatigue, this image would have resonated deeply. It aligned with Rockwell’s broader humanist vision, one that sought to find beauty in effort, humor in humility, and grace in imperfection. Today, that same sensibility feels remarkably contemporary, echoing ongoing conversations about emotional labor and the value of unseen work.

Why Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve Still Matters

More than seventy years later, Rockwell’s salesgirl continues to move viewers not through spectacle, but through empathy. She reminds us that art can elevate even the most fleeting moments of human vulnerability into symbols of shared experience. In an era when holiday imagery still tends to idealize perfection, Rockwell’s painting invites a different kind of reflection, one grounded in compassion and authenticity.

Ultimately, Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve stands among Rockwell’s most introspective works. Through his careful attention to gesture, light, and narrative restraint, he transforms a common scene into an enduring meditation on care, work, and quiet resilience. The painting whispers rather than declares, yet in that whisper lies Rockwell’s deepest gift: a reminder that every moment of exhaustion carries its own quiet form of grace.

Rockwell’s art endures because it recognizes the humanity in all of us, the moments when we pause, rest, and simply are. In Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve, that recognition becomes both personal and universal. It is not merely a scene of fatigue, but a portrait of empathy, a testament to the dignity of effort and the quiet beauty found at the close of a long day.

For a student activity on Norman Rockwell’s painting Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve, please… Click HERE!

Bibliography: Sotheby’s catalogue entry for Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve

Rockwell’s sensitivity to everyday labor can also be seen in Freedom from Want and Happy Birthday, Miss Jones, both discussed elsewhere on Teacher Curator: https://www.teachercurator.com/20th-century-art/freedom-from-want-by-norman-rockwell/ and https://www.teachercurator.com/student-activities/happy-birthday-miss-jones-by-norman-rockwell/?fbclid=IwY2xjawN2gpVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFacmdpSHp2SEZOb3lLZWFaAR6o_s1cbQ-iJ3seOTei9EK-NSGSKJwa-goSlQRlZ0OVo3e56Vs6jHCgU9nABw_aem_D0lNpQ7pRe6EhsgcZxX9CA&brid=zUGuYS_L6hPdqRsBBliuag

IVLIA BELLA

by 15th century Italian Renaissance ArtArtItalian Renaissance ArtRenaissanceRenaissance ArtStudent ActivitiesUncategorizedWorksheets
Iulia Bella plate, Faenza, end of 15th – beginning of 16th cent., Maiolica, Diameter: 28.2 cm, International Ceramics Museum in Faenza, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025

The IVLIA BELLA plate, housed at the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, stands as a luminous example of early Renaissance maiolica and the city’s mastery of ceramic portraiture. Crafted in the late 15th or early 16th century, the plate portrays the bust of a refined young woman in profile—her name, “Iulia Bella,” inscribed gracefully on a scroll behind her. This delicate work reflects a pivotal cultural shift in Faenza’s ceramic tradition, as artists moved away from Gothic and Oriental motifs toward the celebration of human beauty and individuality. With its elegant design and rich symbolism of love and virtue, the IVLIA BELLA plate captures both the artistry and humanism that defined the Italian Renaissance.

Let’s explore the ‘who’, ‘where’, when’, ‘why’ and ‘what’ of the amazing Majolica Plate of IVLIA BELLA in theInternational Museum of Ceramics in Faenzaby posing some questions!

Who was Iulia Bella? While her exact identity remains unknown, “Iulia Bella” likely represents a young bride or an idealized figure of feminine beauty. The name inscription personalizes the plate, suggesting it may have been commissioned to celebrate marriage, virtue, or social status, reflecting Renaissance ideals of elegance and moral refinement.

What artistic techniques make this plate stand out? The plate exemplifies Faenza maiolica through its tin-glazed surface, vibrant enamel colors, and finely painted portrait in profile. The careful rendering of her hairstyle, damask dress, and the inscribed scroll demonstrates a mastery of detail and the shift from decorative patterns to human-centered imagery.

When and in what cultural context was it created? Created in the late 15th or early 16th century, the plate emerges during the Italian Renaissance, when Faenza workshops transitioned from Gothic and Oriental motifs toward portraits and figurative art. This period emphasized humanism, individuality, and the celebration of beauty in daily life.

Where would the plate have been displayed? Such plates were likely display items rather than functional tableware, placed in domestic interiors or marriage chambers to be admired. Their role was both decorative and symbolic, showcasing refinement, wealth, and cultural sophistication.

Why were ceramics chosen for commemorative or amatory portraits? Ceramics offered a durable, portable, and visually striking medium for personal or commemorative imagery. A painted plate like IVLIA BELLA combined practical elegance with social signaling, allowing patrons to celebrate beauty, virtue, and status within the home in a tangible, everyday object.

Why is the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza considered an important institution in the world of ceramic art and history? The International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza is considered one of the most important institutions in the world of ceramic art and history due to its vast and diverse collection, its historical significance, and its role in preserving and promoting ceramic heritage. Founded in 1908, the museum houses work from ancient civilizations to contemporary ceramic art, representing cultures from across the globe. It is especially renowned for its comprehensive display of Italian Majolica, with masterpieces from key production centers like Faenza, Deruta, and Urbino. The museum also serves as a vital center for research, education, and innovation in ceramics, hosting exhibitions, workshops, and scholarly initiatives. Its presence in Faenza, a city with centuries-old ceramic traditions, further cements its role as a guardian of both local craftsmanship and international ceramic excellence.

For a Student Activity inspired by the Faenza Plate of Iulia Bella, please… Click HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.micfaenza.org/en/opera/iulia-bella-plate/ and https://lauramorelli.com/ceramics-faenza/  

Boat Fresco of Orchomenos

by Ancient Greek ArtArchaeologyArtGreek ArtMycenaean ArtStudent ActivitiesWorksheets
Wall Paintings from the Mycenaean Palace of Boeotian Orchomenos, Late Bronze Age, 13th century BC, Archaeological Museum of Thebes, Greece – Photo credit: Amalia Spiliakou, February 19, 2024

Among the fragmentary remains of the Mycenaean palace at Orchomenos, a wall painting depicting a long, narrow oared vessel offers a rare glimpse into how the rulers of Late Bronze Age Boeotia envisioned their relationship with the sea. Known as the Boat Fresco of Orchomenos, this work, now reconstructed and displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Thebes, dates to the 13th century BC, when the Mycenaean palatial system reached its zenith. Though only scattered plaster fragments survive, they reveal a striking image: a ship manned by seated oarsmen and guided by a standing helmsman at the stern. In its quiet precision and rhythm, this miniature seascape reflects a world where mastery over movement, of ships, people, and power, defined the essence of kingship.

The palace of Orchomenos stood on a low hill overlooking the fertile Boeotian plain. Excavations revealed storerooms, painted architectural façades, and fragments of richly colored wall paintings that once adorned audience halls. According to Th. Spyropoulos’s study in Mycenaean Wall Painting in Context (2015), the ship fragment formed part of a larger scene that may have included city walls and armed figures, a coastal tableau echoing Mycenaean concerns with both defense and seafaring. The linear precision of the hull and the rhythmic placement of the oars evoke balance and order, qualities also prized in palatial architecture and administration.

Wall Painting from the Mycenaean Palace of Boeotian Orchomenos, Late Bronze Age, 13th century BC, Archaeological Museum of Thebes, Greece – Photo credit: Amalia Spiliakou, February 19, 2024

In artistic terms, the Orchomenos fresco belongs to the same tradition as other Mycenaean depictions of ships, most famously the ‘naval scene’ from the Palace of Nestor at Pylos. The Pylos fresco, excavated in Hall 64, portrays a fleet of long, low ships navigating stylized waves filled with fish and dolphins. Both works share conventions such as the gently curving hull, rhythmic oars, and the figure of a helmsman guiding the vessel. Yet their atmosphere differs markedly. The Pylos composition is expansive and dynamic, ships advance across a vivid seascape, perhaps symbolizing a royal expedition or divine voyage, while the Orchomenos image feels more contained, even austere. Its minimal background and measured geometry create a quieter meditation on order and control rather than the celebration of motion.

Reconstruction of the Mycenaean Fresco of Ships from the Palace of Pylos (Rosemary Robertson, 2013)

This contrast may reflect local identity. Pylos, a coastal kingdom deeply tied to the sea, presented maritime power as spectacle, Orchomenos, though inland, still drew wealth from trade routes linking the Gulf of Euboea and central Greece. Its painters adopted the ship motif not as a literal scene but as a symbol of authority, evidence that the imagery of seafaring had become part of a shared Mycenaean visual vocabulary of kingship. The disciplined rowers and steady helmsman thus mirror the palace’s administrative ideals: hierarchy, cooperation, and the mastery of nature through collective labor.

Because the Orchomenos fragments were recovered out of context, interpretation remains cautious. Some scholars propose a decorative register celebrating the Mycenaean “thalassocracy,” others suggest a ritual or mythic voyage. Whatever the intent, the fresco’s survival, though partial, testifies to the integration of marine imagery into the artistic language of mainland Greece. Like other Mycenaean murals, it transforms daily reality into an emblem of order and power. The Orchomenos ship, with its measured rhythm of oars and its commanding helmsman, evokes a civilization that saw itself as both master of the land and heir to the sea.

Seen today in its reconstructed form, the fresco invites reflection on the fragility of artistic memory. What remains are not complete narratives but fragments, strokes of pigment, broken lines, that nonetheless preserve the pulse of the Bronze Age imagination. In those traces, the Mycenaean boat continues its journey across time, carrying with it echoes of labor, leadership, and the enduring allure of the sea.

For a Student Activity inspired by the Orchomenos fresco of a Boat, please… Click HERE!

Bibliography: Spyropoulos, Th. “Wall Paintings from the Mycenaean Palace of Boeotian Orchomenos.” In Mycenaean Wall Painting in Context: New Discoveries, Old Finds Reconsidered, eds. H. Brecoulaki, J. L. Davis & S. R. Stocker. Athens: National Hellenic Research Foundation, 2015, and Archaeological Museum of Thebes, permanent collection panels on wall paintings from Orchomenos (museum text, 2016). https://aristomenismessinios.blogspot.com/2020/04/an-unprecedented-navalscene-from-pylos.html and https://greek-museums.tumblr.com/post/149758810301/archaeological-museum-of-thebes-wall-paintings?utm_source=chatgpt.com and https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2016/2016.11.09/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Fabulous Beasts I

by 20th century ArtArtStudent ActivitiesWorksheets
Franz Marc, German Artist, 1880 – 1916
Fabulous Beasts I (Composition of Animals I), 1913, tempera and gouache on paper, 25.5×31.5 cm, Private Collection
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/modern-evening-auction/fabeltiere-i-tierkomposition-i-fabulous-beasts-i

Wassily Kandinsky’s recollection of Franz Marc offers a deeply revealing lens through which to approach Fabulous Beasts I (Composition of Animals I) (1913). Writing in 1936, Kandinsky described his younger colleague as an artist who ‘had a direct, intimate relationship with nature like a mountaineer or even an animal,’ drawn irresistibly to ‘everything in nature, but above all, the animals.’ This connection, Kandinsky explained, allowed Marc to ‘enter into the lives of animals.’ not as a mere observer but as a participant in their vitality. Yet Marc’s art, he emphasized, was never about literal depiction, ‘he never lost himself in details, never saw the animal as more than one of the elements of a whole.’ In Fabulous Beasts I, this vision is vividly realized… the animals merge into an interlocking harmony of color and form, expressing not their individuality but their shared pulse within the greater ‘organic whole’ of nature that, as Kandinsky observed, defined Marc’s singular artistic world.

Who was Franz Marc, the artist Kandinsky remembered with such admiration? Franz Marc was one of the central figures of German Expressionism and a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter, the avant-garde group he established with Kandinsky in 1911. Deeply spiritual and philosophical, Marc sought to reveal the unseen essence of the world rather than its surface appearance. He believed that animals, untouched by human corruption, embodied purity and harmony that modern life had lost. For Marc, painting them was not an act of observation but of communion, an attempt to visualize a higher spiritual order through form and color.

What drew him so powerfully to the world of animals? Marc viewed animals as symbols of innocence and unity with nature. In Fabulous Beasts I, the overlapping forms of horses, deer, and other creatures seem to dissolve into one another, reflecting this ideal of interconnectedness. Marc’s fascination was not with individual species but with the collective rhythm of life, the pulse that unites all beings. Through animals, he sought to express a vision of nature that was not separate from humanity but part of a divine totality.

How did his engagement with color and abstraction evolve in the years leading up to 1913? By 1913, Marc’s style had shifted from representational imagery toward a more abstract, spiritual expression. Influenced by Kandinsky’s theories of color and music, as well as by Cubism and Orphism, he began to use pure color as a vehicle of emotion and meaning. For the artist, blue symbolized the spiritual and male, yellow the joyful and feminine, and red the material and violent. In Fabulous Beasts I, these hues collide and intertwine, animating the composition with dynamic energy. The result is less a scene from nature than a symphonic vision, an attempt to depict life’s spiritual vibrations.

What does this composition reveal about Marc’s search for unity between humanity, nature, and the divine? Fabulous Beasts I can be seen as a culmination of Marc’s lifelong search for harmony. The animals, abstracted and luminous, are not separate entities but fragments of a universal design. The compositionparticipatesense of cosmic balance, where every form and color participates in a shared rhythm. Marc’s belief that art could restore the spiritual connection between humanity and nature finds one of its purest expressions here.

Can this work be seen as a premonition of the transformation, and destruction, soon to come with the First World War? Painted in 1913, just before the outbreak of war and Marc’s own death in 1916, Fabulous Beasts I carries a poignant sense of forewarning. The swirling forms and intense colors, once symbols of unity, also suggest a world on the brink of dissolution. In retrospect, the painting reads as both a celebration of life’s sacred energy and a lament for its fragility. Through his vision, Marc seemed to sense that the harmony he sought in nature was about to be shattered by human conflict.

In the light of Kandinsky’s words, Fabulous Beasts I stands as a testament to Franz Marc’s rare ability to see beyond appearances into the spiritual essence of life. His art invites us to look at the world not through human eyes, but through a consciousness attuned to the rhythms of nature. Though his life was cut short by war, Marc’s vision endures, radiant, searching, and profoundly humane. In his ‘direct, intimate relationship with nature,’ he created not mere images of animals, but a timeless meditation on the unity of all living things.

For an engaging Student Activity inspired by Franz Marc’s Fabulous Beasts I (Composition of Animals I), please, Check… HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/modern-evening-auction/fabeltiere-i-tierkomposition-i-fabulous-beasts-i

The Consular Diptych of Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius

by ArchaeologyArtByzantine ArtByzantine IvoriesByzantiumEarly Christian ArtEducationMuseumsSocial StudiesStudent ActivitiesWorksheets
Consul Basilio with personification of Rome and chariot race, 541 – 541, Plaque of an Ivory Consular Diptych, 34.5×12.9 cm, National Museum of Bargello, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025
Ivory Angel fragment of a diptych valve, 6th Century, Ivory, Museum of Ancient Art in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy
https://www.alamy.com/ivory-angel-from-bottega-romana-fragment-of-a-diptych-valve-6th-century-museum-of-ancient-art-in-the-castello-sforzesco-sforza-castle-in-milan-italy-image223703517.html

The Bargello panel of The Consular Diptych of Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius (consul in 541 AD) offers a vivid glimpse into the ceremonial splendor and political symbolism of late antiquity. Carved in fine ivory, the plaque depicts the Consul Basilio standing frontally beside the personification of Rome, who crowns him with a laurel wreath, a timeless emblem of civic and military virtue. Below unfolds a chariot race, a rare and dynamic motif symbolizing the public games that marked the consul’s inauguration. The consul holds both the scipio topped with a cross and the mappa circensis, the cloth used to signal the start of the races, fusing Christian and traditional Roman imagery in a moment of political theater.

Once hinged to a now-separated companion leaf, the Milan panel (Avori 10, Castello Sforzesco), the Bargello relief would have formed one side of a luxurious diptych presented to commemorate Basilius’s consulship. The Milan fragment, showing Victory presenting the consul’s portrait within a clipeus, completes the scene’s message of divine favor and public virtue. Together, these ivories capture the final flowering of the consular tradition, bridging Roman civic ideals and Byzantine court aesthetics, and reflecting a world where art served both as devotion and as declaration of power.

Consular diptychs were luxurious paired ivory panels created in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods to commemorate the inauguration of a consul, one of the highest offices in the empire. Traditionally carved on the inside to hold wax for writing, these diptychs evolved by the 4th and 5th centuries into richly decorated ceremonial gifts rather than practical objects. Newly appointed consuls commissioned them to celebrate their accession and distributed them to friends, allies, and dignitaries as tokens of prestige and gratitude. The front surfaces were elaborately carved with scenes of the consul’s investiture, imperial imagery, or allegorical figures such as Victory or Rome, while inscriptions proclaimed the consul’s name and titles. Their iconography—often showing the consul presiding over games, dispensing largesse, or associated with divine favor—served to reaffirm the continuity of Roman civic traditions even as imperial power shifted eastward to Constantinople.

Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius, consul in 541 CE, was a distinguished member of the ancient and influential Anicii family, one of the last great senatorial lineages of Rome. His career unfolded during a turbulent period in the Gothic War and the final years of the Western Roman aristocracy. Before attaining the consulship, Basilius held prominent administrative posts, including comes domesticorum (commander of the imperial household guard) and patricius, titles that reflected both his rank and his proximity to the imperial court. Appointed consul by Emperor Justinian I, he was the last man to hold the title in the Western tradition. After his term, the consulship ceased to exist as an independent civic office and became an imperial prerogative. His consular games, commemorated by the magnificent ivory diptych now divided between Florence and Milan, symbolized both the enduring prestige of Rome’s senatorial elite and the transformation of Roman political culture under Byzantine rule. Basilius’s life thus marks a poignant historical threshold: he stood at the end of Rome’s ancient civic offices and the dawn of a new, imperial order dominated by Constantinople.

The Consular Diptych of Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius, divided today between the Bargello Museum in Florence and the Museo delle Arti Decorative in Milan, stands as one of the most compelling survivals of sixth-century ivory art. Created in 541 CE to commemorate Basilius’s consulship—the last in the Western Roman tradition—the two panels once formed a hinged pair, uniting political ceremony, imperial iconography, and refined craftsmanship. The Bargello panel represents the consul’s public and civic identity, while the Milan plaque embodies the divine and honorific aspects of his role, creating a complete visual narrative of authority and virtue.

Consul Basilio with personification of Rome and chariot race, 541 – 541, Plaque of an Ivory Consular Diptych, 34.5×12.9 cm, National Museum of Bargello, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025

The Bargello panel presents Basilius standing frontally in full consular regalia beside the personification of Rome, who crowns him with a laurel wreath, a symbol of victory and civic honor. In his hands, the consul holds the scipio topped with a cross and the mappa circensis, signaling the opening of the chariot races carved below in vivid relief, where teams of four-horse chariots turn around the spina of the circus. This combination of Christian and traditional Roman imagery reflects the fusion of old civic ritual with new imperial faith. The Milan plaque, by contrast, depicts a winged Victory seated on a globe, her feet resting on an eagle’s outstretched wings as she presents a clipeus containing Basilius’s portrait. Around it runs the inscription BONO REI PVBLICAE ET ITERVM (For the good of the Republic, and again), proclaiming the consul’s service to the state. Together, these compositions balance earthly power and celestial sanction, merging public ceremony with divine endorsement.

Aesthetically, the two panels reveal both unity and distinction. The Bargello panel is dense and narrative, crowded with human figures and architectural motifs that emphasize movement and civic spectacle. The Milan panel, in contrast, is more restrained and idealized, its composition centered, symmetrical, and imbued with spiritual calm. The Milanese Victory, delicately modeled and classically poised, recalls earlier Roman traditions of divine personification, while the Bargello figures are more rigid, their proportions elongated, their gestures formalized in the emerging Byzantine style. The difference in tone, public versus celestial, active versus contemplative, suggests that the two leaves were designed as complementary expressions of the same ideology: the earthly authority of the consul validated by divine and imperial favor.

Viewed together, the two ivories encapsulate the final synthesis of Roman civic art and Byzantine symbolism. They celebrate the consulship not merely as an office but as a sacred performance of continuity between past and present, Rome and Constantinople, man and empire. Their divided survival, one in Florence, one in Milan, mirrors the historical fragmentation of the world that produced them, yet their shared message endures: that power, piety, and artistic excellence could still converge in the twilight of antiquity. As such, the diptych of Basilius stands not only as a testament to individual glory but as a poignant farewell to the visual language of Roman public life.

For a Student Activity, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: Representing consulship: on the conception and meanings of the consular diptychs, by Cecilia Olovsdotter, OpAthRom 4, 2011, 99-124 https://www.academia.edu/11849854/Representing_consulship_on_the_conception_and_meanings_of_the_consular_diptychs_OpAthRom_4_2011_99_124?utm_source=chatgpt.com and https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0900645430

Martial Reportage and Archaeological Revelation

by 20th century ArtArtSocial StudiesStudent ActivitiesWorksheets
Photographer: Ariel Lowe Varges, American, 1890–1972
Discovery 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 (ancient Lete),April 1916, (in the Collection of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki), Photo date: 1916– Photo Credit: Imperial War Museums, UK https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205297459
The ancient marble memorial plaque praising the virtues of Manius Salarius Sabinus for his benefactions (in the Collection of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki), Photo date: 1916– Photo Credit: Imperial War Museums, UK https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205297460
Photographer: Ariel Lowe Varges, American, 1890–1972
Lieutenant Commander Ernest Gardiner R.N.V.R. working on the ancient marble memorial plaque praising the virtues of Manius Salarius Sabinus for his benefactions, Photo date: 1916 – Photo Credit: Imperial War Museums, UK https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205265524

In the context of the WWI Salonika campaign (1915–1918), Ariel Lowe Varges’s lens captured more than just Allied operations, it also glimpsed the buried threads of the classical past emerging within the conflict zone. This dual resonance is movingly preserved in three photographs now held by the Imperial War Museums: one records the 1916 discovery of an ancient marble memorial plaque praising the virtues of Manius Salarius Sabinus for his benefactions, another depicts the plaque itself, and a third shows Lieutenant Commander Ernest Gardiner, R.N.V.R., carefully examining its inscription. Together, these images form a unique bridge between Martial Reportage and Archaeological Revelation, testifying to how the upheaval of war could uncover, preserve, and even reframe fragments of history long concealed beneath the surface.

The photographs gain further significance when placed against the wider backdrop of the British Salonica Force’s archaeological work. Under the supervision of Gardiner, a professor at the University of London, systematic excavations were carried out at Karabournaki in Thessaloniki and at Tsaousitsa in Kilkis, revealing tombs and ancient artifacts. Initially stored in the White Tower, where one floor was converted into a “Museum of the British Force”, these finds were later transferred in 1918 to the army headquarters housed in the Papafio Orphanage. In 1919, the collection was shipped to the British Museum, where much of it remains today, though part of it was retained in Thessaloniki and is now held by the Archaeological Museum. Through Varges’s camera, the entanglement of military occupation, archaeological discovery, and cultural heritage are given rare visual form.

Among the finds made during this extraordinary phase of wartime archaeology was the marble memorial plaque of Manius Salarius Sabinus (Μάνιος Σαλάριος Σαβεῖνος), unearthed by the Royal Scottish Fusiliers near Liti in April 1916 while digging defensive trenches of the Birdcage Line. The inscription, dated to AD 121/122 under Hadrian, honors Sabinus, a wealthy landowner of Lete, possibly also a citizen of Thessaloniki, for his repeated generosity during times of famine, when he sold grain to both the local populace and the emperor’s troops at exceptionally low prices. The text itself preserves this civic gratitude in clear terms:

ἡ πόλις Μάνιον Σαλάριον Σαβεῖνον τὸν γυμνασίαρχον καὶ εὐεργέτην
ἐν [σι]-τηνδείαις πλειστάκις παραπεπρακότα τὰ σιτία
τοῖς στρατοῖς τοῦ κυρίου Καίσαρος ἐπ’ εὐτελεστάτοις τιμαῖς …

“The city [honors] Manius Salarius Sabinus, gymnasiarch and benefactor, who many times in times of grain-shortage sold grain to the armies of our lord Caesar at the very lowest prices …”

Praised as gymnasiarch and benefactor, he emerges from the inscription as a civic leader whose actions linked local welfare with imperial military needs. Initially stored in the improvised wartime museum of the White Tower, the plaque was fortunately retained in Greece after the dispersal of the British Salonica Force collection. Today it resides in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, illustrating how wartime excavations brought to light evidence of past shortages and civic benefaction, resonant with the conditions of Macedonia in the First World War.

The temporary exhibition “ARCHAEOLOGY BEHIND BATTLE LINES. In Thessaloniki during the turbulent years 1912-1922″ took place during the celebrations for the centenary of the city’s liberation and was incorporated into the A.M.Th. actions under the “Thessaloniki, Crossroads of cultures” programme of the Ministry of Culture, Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum, 24 November 2012 – 30 June 2014 https://www.amth.gr/en/exhibitions/temporary/archaeology-behind-battle-lines-thessaloniki-during-turbulent-years-1912-1922?utm_source=chatgpt.com 

Ariel Lowe Varges (1890–1972) was a pioneering American photographer and newsreel cameraman whose career spanned some of the most turbulent events of the early 20th century. Born in Chicago on June 11, 1890, he began as a photographer for the Chicago Examiner before joining William Randolph Hearst’s newspaper empire in New York around 1911. Among the first American still photographers to embrace motion picture cameras, Varges made his mark in 1914 when he filmed the Mexican War and soon after became the first foreign cameraman permitted to cover the war in Serbia, thanks to a connection with Sir Thomas Lipton.

During World War I, Varges served as an official cinematographer with the British Army, documenting campaigns in Salonika, the Middle East, and Mesopotamia. His vivid depictions of frontline conditions were instrumental in shaping how the war was seen by the public. For his contributions, he was made an honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire. After the war, he continued his globe-spanning career, becoming the first foreign cameraman to film Leon Trotsky and later covering conflicts in China and Ethiopia for Hearst newsreels. His adventurous assignments even included aerial cinematography over the pyramids with the Cairo–Baghdad Squadron.

By the 1950s, Varges had transitioned into a leadership role as head of the photographic laboratory for Hearst’s News of the Day newsreel program, retiring in 1952. He died on December 27, 1972, in Norwich, Connecticut, and was buried in Preston Cemetery. Remembered as a trailblazer in war cinematography and newsreel journalism, Varges helped shape modern visual reporting by bringing audiences closer than ever before to world events.

For a Student Activity, inspired by Ariel Lowe Varges’s photographs of the ancient marble memorial plaque praising the virtues of Manius Salarius Sabinus for his benefactions, please… check HERE!

Bibliography: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://ikee.lib.auth.gr/record/286234/files/Xydopoulos%20Euergetes%20AWE.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com and https://shootingthegreatwar.blogspot.com/search?q=Ariel+Varges&fbclid=IwY2xjawL7xP1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEyS2dKa2lvV0dTbGFITmc4AR7QWbi9QnOpTIhSeUIPyCnh1r83OdC4VnOGI-z6re858Ge4s2B6A71idjyk1g_aem_z-xs-iAmzHAZK5lxukZcjw

Empress Ariadne

by ArtByzantine ArtByzantine IvoriesByzantiumEarly Christian ArtStudent ActivitiesWorksheets
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 ivory plaques, generally attributed to portray Empress Ariadne (r. 474–515), now housed in the Bargello Museum in Florence and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. While scholars debate their exact identification, these delicate carvings offer a rare glimpse into the artistry and political symbolism of the early Christian Byzantine court.

Empress Ariadne, around 500 AD, Ivory, Height: 36,5 cm,The Bargello Museum, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Marya Stamatiadi April 2025
Empress Ariadne, around 500 AD, Ivory, Height: 26,5 cm,Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/kaiserin-ariadne-71782-1

The late 5th and early 6th centuries were a period of significant political and religious transformation. Ariadne, the daughter of Emperor Leo I and Empress Verina, became central to dynastic succession at a time when no male heir was available. Married first to Emperor Zeno, she played a mediating role during his often turbulent reign. After his death, Ariadne married Anastasios, a palace official (silentiarius) whom she helped elevate to the throne, securing imperial stability. If the ivory plaques do depict her, they present not only an image of an empress consort but also of a figure who embodied dynastic continuity and wielded real political influence in Constantinople.

The Bargello plaque, cataloged as part of a larger pentittico (five-panel composition), presents a standing female figure dressed in imperial robes and facing frontally. Executed in carved and incised ivory with traces of paint, it has been compared to major works such as the Barberini Ivory, and scholars have proposed that it may once have formed part of the same ensemble as the Vienna plaque. Stylistic affinities with consular diptychs, such as those of Aerobindus and Anastasius, suggest a date around 500 AD. While rival identifications have been proposed, the attribution to Ariadne remains the most recurrent. The ivory entered the Bargello in the 19th century through an exchange, further adding to its layered history as both a Byzantine and a modern collectible.

Empress Ariadne, around 500 AD, Ivory, Height: 36,5 cm,The Bargello Museum, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Marya Stamatiadi April 2025
Empress Ariadne, around 500 AD, Ivory, Height: 26,5 cm,Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/kaiserin-ariadne-71782-1

By contrast, the Vienna plaque shows the empress enthroned beneath a shell-shaped baldachin, flanked by eagles, symbols of imperial authority. Dated to around 500 AD, the ivory portrays the ruler richly adorned, holding a sphaira topped with a cross in her left hand while raising her right in a gesture of blessing. The throne, the globe and cross, and the orant-like pose emphasize divine sanction and ceremonial majesty over individual portraiture. Classified as Early Byzantine, the plaque passed from the Riccardi collection in Florence into the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it remains a centerpiece of the Antikensammlung.

Empress Ariadne, around 500 AD, Ivory, Height: 36,5 cm,The Bargello Museum, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Marya Stamatiadi April 2025
Empress Ariadne, around 500 AD, Ivory, Height: 26,5 cm,Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/kaiserin-ariadne-71782-1

Taken together, the two plaques, one depicting the empress standing in ceremonial presence, the other enthroned in majesty, illustrate complementary aspects of imperial power. They exemplify the Constantinopolitan fusion of classical forms with emerging Christian symbolism, and, if indeed they represent Ariadne, they also illuminate the ways in which an empress could embody both dynastic continuity and divine legitimacy during a pivotal moment in Byzantine history.

Early Christian Ivory Treasures in The Bargello Museum, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Marya Stamatiadi April 2025

Today, the Bargello and Vienna ivory plaques continue to captivate scholars and visitors alike, not only for their exquisite craftsmanship but also for the historical questions they raise. Whether or not they truly portray Ariadne, they stand as rare survivals of Constantinopolitan ivory carving, embodying the fusion of imperial image-making and Christian symbolism. Through them, we glimpse both the artistry of a vibrant court and the enduring allure of an empress whose legacy shaped the transition of power at a crucial moment in Byzantine history.

For a Student Activity, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-04469-3_4 and https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0901395336 and https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/kaiserin-ariadne-71782-1