The Art of Antiquity: Objects and Their Biographies from the Athenian Agora

The Dr. John and Helen Collis Lecture in Greek and Byzantine Art September 29, 2024 This presentation showcases the contexts of myriad things—artworks and artifacts—found in the civic center of the world’s first democracy and the commercial marketplace of ancient Athens. This long-lived area, adjacent to the Acropolis, has seen the interaction of people and things from before 5000 BCE to yesterday. The objects found belonged to people, and just like people, they enjoyed a cultural biography. By reconstructing their contexts and biographies, we get closer to the people who made, used, discarded, and discovered the objects we enjoy today.