Ancient Art
A New Emphasis on Textiles
A number of the museums’ textiles from early Byzantine Egypt have recently undergone conservation and analysis, thanks to support from the Hagop Kevorkian Fund. The newly treated textiles can now be seen in a series of gallery installations.
Face Time with Ancient Egyptians
As part of a Getty-led initiative, a multidisciplinary team at the Harvard Art Museums is studying the museums’ Roman-period Egyptian mummy portraits to learn more about how they were made.
A Modern Architect in the Ancient World
Former curatorial fellow Henry Colburn examines two watercolors by architect Eliot Noyes, painted during a visit to the site at Persepolis in 1935.
By Henry Colburn
A Puzzling Pitcher
Curatorial fellow Henry Colburn looks at an unusual ancient ceramic pitcher in our collections.
By Henry Colburn
Accessing Harvard’s Bronzes
The museums’ entire ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern bronze collection is available for exploring in a robust digital resource.
Ancient Secrets Uncovered
Theresa Huntsman, an archaeologist and the publications data manager for the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, recently led an examination of Cinerary Urn with Relief Battle Scene, a shoebox-size terracotta vessel from Chiusi, Italy, that likely dates from the second century BCE. The urn contain...
Reassembly—and More—Required
Tony Sigel, a conservator of objects and sculpture in the Harvard Art Museums’ Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, recently completed extensive conservation work on a 5th-century BCE kylix (drinking cup) depicting satyrs, maenads, and the wine god Dionysos.
Life of an Object: 1.1965.562
Carmen Arnold-Biucchi, the Damarete Curator of Ancient Coins, traces the history of a beautiful—and rare—ancient coin in the Harvard Art Museums collections.
By Carmen Arnold-Biucchi
Exciting Pigments
Ancient warfare is brought to life when scientists from Harvard Art Museums’ Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies identify the presence of Egyptian blue pigment on an Etruscan cinerary urn.
A Coin Is Worth a Thousand Words
Eurydice Georganteli, well-known Byzantine scholar at the University of Birmingham, UK, and current Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow in Harvard’s History of Art and Architecture department, recently delivered the Ilse and Leo Mildenberg Memorial Lecture titled Byzantine Money: The Politics and Aes...