One of the Fitzwilliam’s most popular spaces, The Greek and Roman Gallery opens its doors again to the public tomorrow, Saturday January 30 after receiving an intensive 18 month revamp.

Hardly altered since the 1960s, the refurbishment cost £950,000 and has the brought the gallery up to modern-day standards, with state of the art display cases and improved lighting and layout.

The newly redisplayed gallery has been redesigned in collaboration with historians and classical archaeologists from the University’s Classics Faculty. The primary focus is upon people – the figures who, across centuries, have given these objects their appearance and shaped their history.

Highlights of the new displays include: a chance to see two superb Roman sarcophagi, the ‘dolphin rock ‘: a naturally curving piece of rock upon which an unknown artist has scratched not only the shape of a fish or dolphin, but also a Greek inscription declaring ‘(name lost) drew me’ – an instance of over 2500-year-old graffiti.

What might be an example of a Roman ‘Swiss Army knife’: a silver implement from AD 200- 300 with a knife, spoon, fork, a spike (for extracting meat from snails) and a spatula (believed to have been used for poking sauce out of a narrow-necked bottles).

Treasures found at the Emperor Hadrian’s vast country palace at Tivoli, including: a marble head of Hadrian’s lover Antinous, produced after the youth’s death by drowning in the Nile; and a imposing black marble relief depicting the adventures of the Argonauts and Odysseus

Timothy Potts, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum said: “The Fitzwilliam’s
collection of Greek and Roman antiquities is of international significance, so I am delighted that we now have a superbly redesigned space in which to display it to its full potential. This new presentation, which is based on recent research and conservation work, will offer many fresh insights, not only to new visitors, but also to those who are familiar with the collection.”

The gallery, like the rest of the Museum, is free to the public and will be open from Tuesday – Saturday 10.00:17.00. More information about the exhibition can be seen using the link at the top of this page.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.