The Museum of Cycladic Art showcases figurines and other works from the Cycladic culture beginning at about 3000 BC, in the early Bronze Age. The Cyclades comprise several islands in the Aegean Sea. The simplicity of the figures have inspired many modern artists, including Modigliani, Picasso, and Henry Moore. There is no written record of the civilization to help archaeologists figure out what the art means, but the locations in which they were found suggest that they had a funerary purpose.

This figure, called the "cup-bearer", dates from about 2800-2300 BC. It's special, because only a few of the figures hold any kind of prop, and the outstretched hand is also an unusual feature.

This bronze statue of Apollo from the sixth century BC is the oldest known hollow-cast bronze in existence. It's not in the official National Archaeological Museum in Athens; it's in the small archaeological museum in Piraeus, the port of Athens, close to the marina where we stayed.

In 1959, several ancient bronzes like this one were found in Piraeus in a storeroom (or a sewer, depending on the account you believe.) They had been kept there for safekeeping during a siege of the area in 86 BC. In Greece, priceless ancient artifacts are wherever you turn.

One museum in Athens is devoted to Byzantine and Christian art. This piece is a double-sided icon from the fourteenth century.

The artistic style of the Byzantine Empire lasted from about the sixth century AD until 1453, when the Turks captured Constantinople (now Istanbul). It is difficult to imagine any other art form remaining that disciplined over so many centuries.