The Ackland Art Museum began to collect ancient art very soon after it was founded, with the valuable assistance of professors in the Art and Classics departments of the University. Built primarily in the 1960s and 70s, the collection has grown more slowly in recent decades, with increasing concern about the possibility of acquiring illegally excavated artifacts, and with increasing attention paid to the art of other cultures, in Africa, India and Eastern Asia.

Although the ancient Mediterranean region no longer has the central place in the history of art that it had a century ago, it continues to be a source of aesthetic pleasure and a rich field for study. Over the past two years Professor Mary Sturgeon has been working with graduate students to catalogue and study the Ackland collection in the light of recent scholarship. This research provides new information with which to organize the most ambitious display of the collection in the history of the Museum.

For Professor Sturgeon this has created “a terrific teaching and learning opportunity. This project has given students the experience of close examination of original objects, one-on one as well as group teaching, and active learning. Since the Ackland ancient objects are mostly unpublished, they have given us the challenge of applying what we know and creating an appropriate methodology so that we can interpret these ‘unknown’ objects and place them in their art historical and cultural contexts.”

Cathy Dorin, a student in a recent seminar, agrees: “The thing I appreciated the most about this seminar is that it gave me first-hand experience with objects that were not necessarily well-researched. It encouraged me to really look at the object, something that is often overlooked in the classroom setting. It provided me with practical experience for the museum field.”

Currently the Museum has about 40 pieces of ancient art on display in an installation that has changed little since 1991. The collection as a whole includes more than 200: the Museum’s storerooms hold pieces that range from a life-size Roman marble head to tiny amulets in stone, bronze and ceramic. Finely-drawn faces appear on fragments of Greek pottery and miniature sculpture on coins and seals. Bowls, dishes and vase in pottery and glass display a broad spectrum of shapes, some simple and rustic, others supremely elegant. Journey into the Past organizes this mass of material in a series of broad themes.

How were these objects made? In the ancient world sculpture, pottery, glass and metalwork were not only works of art but industrial products created in a workshop environment. Learning about the materials used and the techniques developed to work with them can enhance our appreciation of these objects, and can also help to identify modern imitations and fakes. The growth of naturalism in artistic representation can be traced in painting, sculpture and the decorative arts, from the abstract, stylized forms of Egypt and the ancient Near East to the anatomical detail of later Greek and Roman art.

Other objects provide insight into important aspects of daily life in ancient times: the pleasures of feasting and the violent action of war and athletic contests. Paintings on pottery, and jewelry and other personal effects evoke the position and activities of women in the ancient world. Amulets, votive figures and images of deities convey the role of religion in providing a framework for human existence. The exhibition concludes with an abundant selection of objects that were created in connection with funerary rites, providing a transition from life to death.

Because of the limited space in the present Museum building the expanded display of ancient art cannot be permanent, but it will provide the stimulus for a new and more informative installation of selected works in the present space. Eventually the research of Sturgeon and her students will lead to a published catalogue.

To view more images, visit the Ackland's permanent collection highlights page