Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon, emerges as the first named author, uniting political power, ritual authority, and poetic voice; her alabaster disk preserves her image, legacy, and enduring cultural influence.
Andrea della Robbia’s tender Portrait of a Child
Andrea della Robbia’s glazed terracotta Portrait of a Child embodies Renaissance ideals of innocence and care, using luminous color and tender naturalism to celebrate childhood and reflect enduring values of compassion and human dignity.
Funerary Stele of Alexibola
The Funerary Stele of Alexibola from Thera captures the emotional depth of Classical Greek art, depicting a tender farewell between father and daughter through restrained gesture, dignity, and timeless expressions of love and human connection.
Guido Mazzoni’s Portrait of an Old Man
Guido Mazzoni’s terracotta portrait of an elderly man confronts viewers with unidealised age and psychological realism, transforming clay into a profound Renaissance meditation on human dignity, mortality, and individual identity.
Head of Aphrodite of the Aspremont-Lynden/Arles type
The Head of Aphrodite of the Aspremont-Lynden/Arles type reflects Praxitelean ideals of serene, idealised femininity, later reinterpreted through Christian reuse and layered histories of adaptation, loss, and classical survival.
The Elderly Couple from Voltera
The Urn of the Elderly Spouses in Volterra’s Museo Guarnacci is a rare, moving glimpse into Etruscan beliefs about death, love, and the desire to be remembered together.
The Spinario
A boy pulling a thorn from his foot — the Spinario is one of antiquity’s most quietly captivating sculptures, and its story stretches from ancient Greece to Renaissance collectors.
Bust of a Lady
Almond eyes once inlaid with rose glass, braided crown, classical folds — Chania’s mysterious Bust of a Lady offers a rare, intimate glimpse into late Roman Crete’s aristocratic world.
Statuette of Asklepios Enthroned
Unearthed in a luxurious Roman villa in Corinth, a marble statuette of Asclepius enthroned reveals the quiet persistence of pagan devotion even as Christianity reshaped the ancient world.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s bust of Duke Francesco I d’Este
Bernini sculpted Duke Francesco I d’Este without ever meeting him — the result is one of Baroque art’s most theatrically alive portraits, later reimagined by Giovanni Boldini’s expressive brush.