ALT Workers clean the area around a rare Byzantine-era mosaic floor recently discovered by a farmer in the Gaza Strip.(Fatima Shbair / Associated Press)

ALT A Palestinian sweeps dust off parts of a Byzantine-era mosaic floor that was uncovered by a farmer in Bureij in central Gaza Strip, Sept. 5, 2022. The man says he stumbled upon it while planting an olive tree last spring and quietly excavated it over several months with his son. Experts say the discovery of the mosaic — which includes 17 well-preserved images of animals and birds — is one of Gaza's greatest archaeological treasures. They say it's drawing attention to the need to protect Gaza's antiquities, which are threatened by a lack of resources and the constant threat of fighting with Israel. Photo: Fatima Shbair - staff, AP

ALT Two birds in square framing, surrounded by a guilloche pattern - from a Byzantine-era mosaic floor that was uncovered recently by a Palestinian farmer in Bureij in the Gaza Strip, earlier this month.Credit: Fatima Shbair/ AP

ALT Head of Giano bifronte (two-faced), from Vulci, Italy. 2nd c. B.C. Rome, Etruscan National Museum of Villa Giulia. Photo by the museum.

ALT A large square Roman roof tile, known as a tegula, made of yellowish clay. It shows the expected stamp and an unexpected footprint of a toddler. Photo: my own. Baths of Diocletian museum.

ALT Closeup of the toddler's footprint in this Roman roof tile.

ALT The beautifully sculpted marble statue known as 'The Sleeping Hermaphrodite'. In fact, it's the god Hermaphroditus, asleep with their head turned sideways on their arms. The gluteus is particularly highlighted by the pose, all 'come hither'. Seemingly, a naked woman. The surprise is on the other side ... Not caught in this photo is a frame from a jewel on their head, or more likely colored glass made to look like a precious stone. Another top quality copy of this sculpture was found in the Imperial gardens of Salustius (now in the Louvre in Paris). Palazzo Massimo alla Terme, Rome. Photo: my own

ALT The front of Hermaphroditus, with female breasts, but with the hip raised enough to reveal a rather significant sized set of male genitalia. This is not the tiny genitalia normally seen on gods in Roman sculpture - all part of the unusual and alien nature of this god. Photo: my own

ALT A brightly painted “Apollo Kithara” (2019-22) is part of the “Jeff Koons - Apollo,” show, which opened in June, 2022, on the Greek island of Hydra, at the Project Space Slaughterhouse, run by the Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art. Photo credit: Eftychia Vlachou

ALT Jeff Koons’ polychrome version of the Apollo Kithara sculpture from the British Museum. Set in an old slaughterhouse on the Greek island of Hydra. Photo credit: Jeff Koons.

ALT Photo of the original 2nd c. CE Apollo Kithara from Cyrene, on display in the British Museum. The torso and kithara (a type of stringed instrument) are in amazing shape, although Apollo’s right arm is missing (it would have draped on top of his head, as seen in the Koons reconstruction). Photo credit: Chapps

ALT Rear of a marble bust of a Roman woman, Antonine era, ca. 150-160 CE. Her long hair is braided, which is then wound up on top of her head, and a separate, thinner braid holds it into place (along with some pins, one assumes). The hair is pulled up from her face and set in literal waves, seen better in the side and front photographs. The end of the large braid is allows to be natural and curly, nearly touching the palla (cloak) around her shoulders. Getty Villa Museum (83.AA.44). Photo: my own

ALT Photo of five ancient rock crystal objects: a plain curved bowl (astonishingly complete and smooth), a bowl with fish and shells carved in relief, a small round temple with decorated columns, a dolphin (missing parts of its beak and flipper), and a small crouching lion. Met Museum (55.135.5-9) Photo: my own

ALT Land Grant Stele ("Caillou Michaux") 1100-1083 BC Made of dark serpentine stone (ovoid, broad base and smaller rounded top), with the cuneiform chiseled into the front in two long rows, below a shallow relief depicting lizard-like gods, temples and perhaps altars. This Babylonian kudurru stele records the gift of farmland from a father, Nirah-nasir, to his daughter, Dur-Sharrukinaia'itu, on the occasion of her marriage. It was probably deposited in a temple. Above the inscription are the symbols of various Babylonian deities, including Nabu (god of writing), under whose protective authority such transactions took place. Found near Baghdad by the French botanist-adventurer André Michaux, the stele was brought back to Paris in 1786, becoming the first significant cuneiform inscription to be known in Europe. It would be another seventy years before Babylonian writing was deciphered through the combined efforts of scholars in England, Ireland, and France. 📸 my own

ALT Four sleeping puppies, all in a pile. Broad snouts, chubby, small ears. Adorable. Rendered in marble, in a round shape.

ALT Deeply colorful and luminous blue bowl with threads of white glass running through it like waves of seaweed in the ocean. It truly glows in the light. Getty Villa Museum (2004.24). Photo: my own.

ALT Fragment of a statue of the Etruscan goddess Uni (Roman Juno) - only the chest, neck, and head survive. The paint is still very vibrant. Her lips are deep red, as is the neck of her tunic and the pattern on her yellow peplum, which is folded over her shoulder. Her wavy hair is parted in the middle and pulled back, under a large golden yellowdiadem, which is studded with molded dark purple flowers. She wears a necklace with large round purple beads, and her tunic/chiton is yellow with red shadowing. Her eyes are a dark color, almost black. One large floral disk earring survives intact. Photo courtesy of the Villa Giulia, the Etruscan museum in Rome. Original photo by Carole Raddato.

ALT Long, rectangular room with 20-foot (or more) walls, covered in black ground and a few floating figures (Leda and the Swan, Helen meeting Paris, etc.). The long floor has over one million tesserae, mostly white, although it has a thin double black border. Two archaeologists are filling cracks in the right wall at the far end, near the figures of Apollo and Kassandra.

ALT The meeting of Helen (and her servant) and Paris-Alexandros (and his very worried looking dog). Quite a large use of blue pigment in this scene, and Paris’ outfit has large squares of orange and lilac (he’s dressed as an Easterner - much like a Persian, with leggings and a Phrygian cap).

ALT Wide angle view of the garden fresco room from the Villa of Livia. All four sides of the long room are covered. There are loads of plants and trees, everything in bloom at once (an impossibility in the real world), and every variety of bird that the Romans might have experienced. Some pieces of the painted arched stucco ceiling are suspended above the fresco.

ALT A young palm tree surrounded by citrus trees and a deep garden.

ALT An evergreen tree backed by a short garden wall and fronted by a short woven wicker fence.

ALT The thick tree growth in the background, and flowers and apples in the foreground. A bird nibbles at some fruit in a tree.

ALT Mosaic showing the 'tree of life', with

ALT One of the small side rooms of Hisham's palace, covered in extremely colorful geometric mosaics. Intense reds, blues and yellows dominate.

ALT The Lycurgus Cup, a type of cage cup, where the glass was ground back to make the figures, the vines, et al, stand out in nearly detached relief. You can actually see behind many of the vines, which are almost fully detached. Most cage cups are geometric, with formalized letters, so this is very unusual. Here we see naked and bearded King Lycurgus struggling against grape vines, which have wrapped themselves around his body. A silver gilt rim of leaf ornament and a footing of open-work vine leaves were added in the modern era, probably around 1800. It was perhaps taken from a church treasury during the French Revolution, then purchased by the Rothschild family, who subsequently sold it to the British Museum in 1950 This is the only complete example of dichroic glass to survive from antiquity. Here, we can see the deep pinkish-ruby red glowing via a light pointed inside the cup, but we can also see the milky green of the figures. 4th c. CE, Alexandria (?) Photo: my own

ALT Weighing 3½ pounds and hammered from a single sheet of metal, this hollow gold bust of a bearded large-eyed Marcus Aurelius wears a breastplate decorated with a winged head of the Gorgon Medusa, symbolizing protection (apotropaic). You can also see the tunic under the armored breastplate, the leather straps over his shoulder, and the end of his cloak, which is over his left shoulder. It was likely attached to a wooden structure that could be carried in ceremonial processions. The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (ruled AD 161-180) is identifiable from his many portraits in marble and on coins. He was a highly respected ruler, a noted Stoic philosopher and writer, and a successful general who spent the later years of his reign fighting Germanic tribes on the northern border of the empire. Photo taken by me at the Getty Villa Museum.

ALT Side view of this hollow gold bust, showing the swept-back hair on the forehead, and the combed-forward hair on the back and nape of the neck.

ALT Elegant bronze forearms with clasped hands and gold foil bracelets. The would have originally been fixed on a handle, and a hinge between the palms can push the hands apart, ready for the next nut. Although it would have been used as a table tool, its funerary context is unclear. It had perhaps a ritual or symbolic meaning that has yet to be uncovered. Discovered in Taranto, Contrada Rondinella, tomb IV. Late 4th, early 3rd c. BCE. Photo by MARTA (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto)

ALT A round drum-style table, decorated with colorful paintings of grape vines, fruits, and birds. It has a white marble top from the centre of which water flowed to enhance the dining experience. Photo: Annette Haug (courtesy of PompeiiInPictures)

ALT 3/4 view of the rock crystal Crouching Venus in the Getty Villa. Beautifully transparent, with tiny bubbles inside, very like ice. She is missing her head, arms and the lower part of her left leg. Photo: Getty

ALT A bronze male bust, dated between the first century B.C. and the first century A.C. is seen on display among other archaeological artifacts that had been stolen from Italy and sold in the U.S. by international art traffickers, during a press conference in Rome, January 23, 2023. The face has a strong jaw and cheekbones and a slim, straight nose. He wears a short mustache and beard. The original stone and glass eyes are intact, although his right eye is bulging out of its socket, giving this a bit of an odd look. Photo: ANDREW MEDICHINI/AP

ALT From the newly revealed frescoes in Pompeii’s Regio IX, a portrait of Paris meeting Helen, with this incredible Molossian-style dog lying on the ground between them. The dog is a pale yellowish-brown, with a whitish muzzle and a black nose. His ears stand up, but flop over halfway, and his eyes are sad and worries. I can’t decipher the Greek text painted over his head.

ALT Digital polychrome reconstruction of this magnificent portrait bust of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, who was originally from North Africa. He wears a military cloak - a paludamentum - in a rich purple color, with a reddish fringe and a lighter purple underside (it’s slightly turned over on his left shoulder). These colors were discovered during scientific scans recently. The cloak is fixed with a gilded shield fibula at his right shoulder. His skin is brown, his hair salt-and-pepper, and his eyes brown, all following the example of the Severan tondo portrait. Details of reddish cheeks, eye gleams, red lips, and a subtle shine from a wax finish make this portrait (hopefully) come alive.

ALT Digital polychrome reconstruction of the portrait bust of Julia Domna from the Eskenazi Museum of Art. Her himation/palla (cloak) is a deep purple with a lighter purple underside, identical to that of her husband’s paludamentum. This furthers their well-known close marriage and partnership. Her tunic is a very pale yellow. Her characteristic ‘hair helmet’, parted in the middle and consisting of several rows of crimped hair in a rounded shape, has subtle gilded highlights at the top of each ridge. This highlighting would have caught the light and helped an observer from a distance see the details of her hairstyle. Her dark drawn eyebrows nearly meet in the middle, with some carved hairs actually touching above the bridge of her nose. I’ve given her lower lashes a kohl treatment. She has brown eyes, and brown hair, just like her Severan tondo portrait. Red cheeks and lips, with red details around the eyes, and a subtle sheen of a wax finish hopefully bring her portrait alive.

ALT Closeup of one of the details from a cubiculum fresco from the Casa della Farnesina, a wealthy Roman villa on the banks of the Tiber outside of the city walls. Here, an enthroned Venus seems to receive a flower from her tiny naked son, Cupid, who wears a fabulous body chain and stands on her footrest. A handmaiden either places (or removes) a sheer lilac veil trimmed in a thin border of blue on the goddess' head (Venus is wearing a rayed golden crown). The extremely fine and delicate details of the frescoes in this house are missing from those in the Vesuvian towns.

ALT The dog was the sacred animal of Gula (also called Ninisina), goddess of health and medicine. The small vessel on the back of this statuette of a large hound (with a very furrowed and worried face - adorable!), which was dedicated by a priest-physician "for the life of" King Sumu-El of Larsa, would have been used to prepare medicinal herbs. The inscription names the figurine "faithful dog, a stand for a pot of life-giving medication." The dog is lying down and has writing all over his flanks, and the medicine preparation pot is attached to his back. He seems to be wearing a collar of twisted material. Isin-Larsa period, reign of Sumu-El, 1894-1866 BCE Made from steatite Found at Girsu (Tello, Iraq), Cros expedition, 1904 Musée du Louvre, Paris (AO 4349) Photo taken by me while this was on loan to the Getty Villa Museum, Malibu, California

ALT A mosaic worker wearing a Dalmatic tunic (round clavi on the bottom and on the shoulders of the tunic), with a large panel of opus sectile mosaic on a trestle table. Cloisters of the Baths of Diocletian, Rome. Photo: my own

ALT Brown glass claw beaker with orangish highlights. It’s round in shape, and the main body has a small foot, expanding upwards to a large flared mouth. Many ‘thread’ rings of glass have been applied to the top and bottom portions of the beaker. In the middle, the ‘claws’ are attached, looking like limp octopus tentacles, with ridges down their middles. British Museum (2005,1205.1)

ALT Excavation photo, showing the beaker emerging from pale sandy soil. You can see the orangish glass, and it’s filled with the soil.

ALT Round cup with a rounded bottom in a light green glass. It has several plants and animals painted on its side, mostly using yellow, red, and green pigments. In this photo, we can see the remains of an ibex/goat standing in front of what appears to be the long limbs of an octopus.

ALT Photo of an ancient Greek bronze horse, its weight on bent rear legs, the front right leg straight, the front leg held up. The horse is about to to take off in a gallop. The neck is extremely muscular, and the mouth is open. Photo: my own.

ALT A beautifully rendered stucco shrine in the shape of a Roman temple, set against a rich yellow-painted fresco wall. Two Corinthian columns support the pediment which has a blue background and three images of sacrifice: a bucranium (ox skull), patera (offering dish), and a sacrificial knife. Inside this shrine, or aedicula, is a painting of two Lares flanking a Genius. The Lares wear short tunics and dance on their toes, each lifting a silver goat-shaped rhyton (drinking horn) high, streams of red wine pouring out of their spouts and caught in silver situlas (pails) by the sides of the Lares. The Genius in the middle is in a toga trimmed in a purple-red border, pulled over his head as a veil, as one did while sacrificing to the gods. Below these figures is a crested snake, an agathodaemon, a protective spirit - it opens its mouth to eat an egg off an altar.

ALT Cases of Roman sculpture and frescoes in the concourse, leading to the gates in Terminal 1 of Fiumicino Airport, Rome.

ALT Marble sculpture of the Empress Sabina as Ceres, goddess of the earth and fertility. Note the poppies and wheat in her left hand. Ostia scavi, Baths of Neptune, gymnasium. 1st half of 2nd c. CE.

ALT Marble sculptural group depicting two young naked male figures wrestling. The work is attributed to a Greek sculptor working in the Roman setting during the Hadrianic period. Ostia scavi, Schola del Traiano, 2nd c. CE.

ALT Curved fresco of a married couple, shown in the act of 'dextrarum iunctio', the ritual handshake that was the culmination of the Roman wedding ceremony. The bride wears a reddish-purple tunic or stola, with a white wool palla pulled over her head as a veil. Isola Sacra, Necropolis of Portus, tomb 19. 140-190 CE.

ALT A panel of extremely colorful polychrome glazed bricks, which form a picture of three archers or bodyguards, standing in profile. They each have a large quiver on their backs, with bows held upright under their left arms, and hold tall spears with both hands. Each wears a thick headband, but their clothing is slightly different. The first and third archer wear long garments with a white background and back and white square patterns, accented with bright yellow on their voluminous sleeves; the trim on these garments is turquoise with white flowers (with yellow centers). The middle archer wears the same garment, but with a yellow background and a similar pattern of white squares; the trim on this garment is black with white flowers (with yellow centers, like daisies). Each of the men wears yellow slippers. The background to these figures are bricks of blue, green, and turquoise. Above and below the panel with the human figures are bands in diamonds and flowers.

ALT Isis-Aphrodite is a form of the great goddess Isis that emphasizes the fertility aspects associated with Aphrodite. She was concerned with marriage and childbirth and, following very ancient pharaonic prototypes, also with rebirth. Elaborate accessories, including an exaggerated calathos (the crown of Egyptian Greco-Roman divinities) emblazoned with a tiny disk and horns of Isis, heighten the effect of her nudity. Figures depicting this goddess are found in both domestic and funerary contexts. Popular already in the 3rd to 2nd centuries B.C., they continued to be made in Roman times. Dating technology places this piece in the Roman period, probably about AD 150, and the long narrow face and rather dry expression do not contradict such a date. Egypt, Roman period (Romano-Egyptian), 2nd century CE. Terracotta painted brown, black, red, and pink on white engobe. Met Museum, New York (1991.76)

ALT The front (obverse) of this small silver coin depicts the head of the goddess Hera facing left. The back (reverse) depicts a square labyrinth with the name of the location where it was minted, in Greek: ΚΝΩΣΙ (Knossos). The city of Knossos drew its civic icon from the myth of the Minotaur. The monster, born to the queen of Crete, was hidden away in a labyrinth, or maze. Yearly he devoured youths and maidens until, with the help of a ball of string, the hero Theseus made his way to the center of the labyrinth. There he killed the Minotaur and used the string to find his way out of the maze. The story was so famous that anyone seeing the labyrinth on this coin knew that Knossos was its source. Art Institute of Chicago (1922.4914)

ALT Gilded bronze draco (dragon) standard head. It looks like a stylized crocodile head, with an open mouth displaying many sharp teeth, a furled upper snout, and scales down its length. It also has a crest on top, a bit like a chicken! Quite a bit of the original gilding remains, glinting yellow under the lights. 190-240 CE. GDKE - Direktion Landesarchilologie Außenstelle Koblenz Landesmuseum Koblenz, Germany Photographed at the British Museum’s ‘Legion’ exhibit.

ALT Photo of a draconarius at a Roman Cavalry Reenactment (Roman Festival at Augusta Raurica - August 2013), dressed in replica roman cavalry armor, galloping on a white horse. He carries a shield and a reconstruction draco standard on a long red pole with an attached red windsock, which billows out behind him.

ALT Small amphoriskos perfume bottle, made of banded agate. The shape is like a fat amphora (hence the name - ‘small amphora’) with a round flat bottom; two tiny handles support the neck, which flares out at the top, where the opening would have once had a stopper. The banded agate has stripes of black, white, cream, red, orange, and yellow. Spectacular. In Hellenistic and Roman times, vessels made in semiprecious stone were much sought after as symbols of wealth and sophistication. They were used as diplomatic gifts or treasured as heirlooms, and many of them found their way into royal tombs or imperial collections, both in antiquity and later. Their rarity also encouraged imitations in both glass and pottery. Roman, late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE. Met Museum, New York (2001.253))

ALT Round urn, which tapers at the bottom, where it appears to emerge from foliage. The round top - sealed, making the vase non-functional and for funerary purposes only - also tapers to a disk-style knob. On the body of the urn is painted four women in complex and colorful Greek clothing. The veiled woman in the middle appears to be a bride. The background is painted a vivid pink color, and the metopes above are a bright light blue. Met Museum, New York (53.11.5)

ALT This Roman knobbed beaker shape was used as a cup. It’s a cage of silver, with a small base and a wide mouth, sort of in an urn shape, with oval cutouts. The intensely blue glass was blown into this ‘cage’ and the glass bulges out of each cutout, making the cup covered in transparent blue oval knots. It must have felt quite nice in the hand, and easier to grasp.

ALT Museum description: 'Translucent blue green. Fire-rounded, thick, uneven rim, forming end of handle; long hollow neck, tooled in around base, forming handle; body shaped into bowl of spoon with angular bottom and tubular edge. Intact, but small weathered chips in bottom edge of bowl; some elongated bubbles in neck; slight dulling and pitting, and faint weathering on exterior, some soil encrustation and iridescent weathering on interior.' Wealthy Romans did use spoons for soups and desserts. This one must have been special enough to join someone in their tomb. Perhaps for a repast after death. Met Museum (15.43.235). Photo: my own

ALT Right side of the newly excavated Nilotic-themed ceiling fresco in Reggio IX (IX 10, 1), the same house where the 'pizza' fresco was found. Here in this closeup we can see a man under a vine-covered arbor, standing on a long tube that's set at an angle while grasping a wooden support,. Water pours out of the upright end of the tube and into a dolium (jar). A traveler's donkey is about to take a drink. This is a water screw, for transporting water from a shallow canal into the water jar on the bank.

ALT The same closeup of the fresco, this time with the components of the water screw outlined in colored lines. The green angled screw barrel is green, the water pouring out of the opening in blue, the axle inside the barrel in red, and the wooden support for the worker in brown.

ALT Carved limestone head of Medusa at the top of the back wall of Hypogeum C, above the carved limestone 'beds' (tombs) in the Ipogeo dei Cristallini, Naples. Quite a bit of paint still survives on the face and hair of the Gorgon, as well as a corona of multicolored leaves painted on the wall around her head, with snakes writhing in and out of the foliage. Photo credit: unsure of photographer, but it appears on Tiqets.com.

ALT Fourth style triclinium fresco from the House of the Vettii in Pompeii, depicting a floating Dionysus-Bacchus and his wife, Ariadne. Both are mostly nude, save swirling garment that catch an unseen wind and plaster themselves to their bodies. The god of wine carries his traditional thyrsus. Both are sent against a vibrant (cinnabar mix?) wall with an illusory painted inset frame. ca. 1st century CE, before 79 CE

ALT Closeup of deeply carved figures on a marble sarcophagus. The elderly King Priam kneels in front of a heroically nude Achilles, kissing his hand, while Achilles looks away. Two gods in shallower relief are behind the two figures - one male, clearly Hermes (he's carrying a caduceus), one a veiled female. Each of these gods looks at one another, concerned, their thumbs to their chins.

ALT A digital polychrome reconstruction of the Diana of Versailles, as it might have originally looked in antiquity, standing on a plinth in a Roman garden. The garden is a painting of a landscape with deer hunt by Alexander Keirincx (1630), Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.

ALT Fragment of marble sepulchral relief, depicting a warrior standing by a pillar, with a serpent at the base symbolising the soul of the deceased. 1st c. BCE, Hellenistic, Roman Imperial Findspot: Rhodes Photo: my own

ALT A dark bronze sestertius from the reign of the Roman emperor Titus (79-81 CE), aka Titus Caesar Vespasianus, son of the emperor Vespasian. The coin depicts the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre) in great detail - you can see the four arched stories, statues within the arches, and a two story portico (perhaps a connection between the Colosseum and Titus' baths) on the right side. It even depicts the alternating clypea, the huge circular bronze shields once placed on the cornice of the fourth floor, and in the center - facing us - the gilded quadriga sculpture over the north-east entry. On the left is the large conical monumental fountain - the Meta Sudans - which stood outside the Colosseum until 1936, when Mussolini had it destroyed to create a traffic circle for his fascist parades.

ALT Marble relief showing Aphrodite seated with Helen on a bench, her arm around the mortal woman, perhaps convincing her to open her heart to the handsome young prince, Paris. On the other side of the relief, the naked Eros (here as a youth) stands with his hand on one hip, and his other on the shoulder of the prince (Eros' wings are enormous and erect), working his magic, to make Paris - heroically nude, save a cape and his boots - fall in lust with Helen. Above the scene, Peitho - the goddess of persuasion - pulls the strings on all of the participants below. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN). Photo by me, taken at a special exhibit at the British Museum.

ALT Slightly over life size bronze head of a bearded man with a large handlebar mustache and a prominent hooked nose. The skin of the face has a beautiful green patina with a smattering of golden orange spots. The eyes - a composite of alabaster and glass - are intact and striking. The beard is almost alive, rippling with detail, somewhat long, and sticking out forwards at an angle. One of the best-preserved large scale ancient bronzes to survive from antiquity.

ALT Section of a rectangular linen shroud, painted in tempera with a representation of a young woman, standing and wearing a pink robe with black edges, holding a cup and a floral garland, surrounded by funerary deities. Roman-era Egypt, ca. 190-220 AD. British Museum.

ALT Beautiful green chalcedony cameo head of Agrippina the Younger. It looks quite a lot like high quality jade. Her well-known - and much-copied by the women of the empire - hairstyle is parted in the middle, with row upon row of fine wavy hair, and ‘spit curls’ all along the edges, almost affixed to her face. Her expression is quite sullen, but she’d had many challenges in her life. Her father, the war hero Germanicus, was possibly poisoned, her mother and brothers starved to death after being exiled, her brother Caligula nearly killing her, and finally her son Nero having her assassinated. The head is missing the lower part of its nose and the part of the bust below the neck. Photo: my own

ALT The bronze boxer is portrayed in a moment of rest after a fight. Sitting with his legs apart and his forearms resting on his thighs, he has relaxed shoulders and joined hands, which are still wearing boxing gloves (himántes oxeís). The frontal sitting pose and the relaxation of his body's muscles are contrasted by a distinct rotation of his head to the right. The figure conquers the surrounding space and directs the viewer's attention to the fighter's face. His gaze concentrated upwards and his slightly parted lips in a deep breath heighten the expressive intensity of his face, which is covered in scars, recent cuts and bruises, with drops of blood visible on his right arm and corresponding leg. The patina of the bronze is very vibrant, with intense, almost neon greens, dark gold, bright gold, and brilliant orange. Still, the copper lips, nipples, and the numerous wounds on his arms, legs, and in particular, his face, are reflective and highly noticeable.

ALT Closeup of his forearms, resting on his legs, and his crossed hands. The himántes oxeís - leather straps, criss-cross around his forearms and hands, and it seems that lamb’s wool is underneath, as it emerges at the top of the wrapping. Across his knuckles are the weighted wraps, which, together with the himantes, are called a cestus.

ALT This bronze bust - about 1/2 life size - depicts a Roman matrona, her fleshy chin held high, her mouth set in a determined expression. Her eye sockets are empty, but would probably have been stone or bone and glass, with bronze eyelashes. Her hairstyle is wavy, parted in the middle, and held back in a braided (?) bun behind her head (I couldn’t see behind this piece, but that’s what I would expect), in the style of a younger Empress Livia, wife of Augustus. The bronze is a golden brown, with a darker brown patina, lending the whole bust a mottled appearance. San Casciano dei Bagni, sacred pool of Bagno Grande, 1st century CE.

ALT Fragment of a glass cameo bowl, sort of captured in a vertical slice. Deep purple background and white cameo figures. Decoration in relief on exterior: a scene of a kneeling naked man with head turned downwards behind a woman, also naked but with an anklet on her right leg; the man's left hand rests on her back and his right arm reaches back for support to a pile of cushions on the end of the low bed or couch, which is covered with linen; he is clean shaven and has short wavy hair; suspended above the lovers is a garland tied at the top with a bow; immediately below the bed is a broad, horizontal ground line, with a second parallel line below around base. He is entering her from behind, to be clear.

ALT Closeup of the wall painting depicting the fowl hunt in the marshes. The colors are spectacularly vivid. Here, the orange tabby cat stands on papyrus stalks, which bend almost down to the ground; the cat has two birds under his front and rear paws, and its head is arched back with a wading bird’s wing in its mouth. Surrounding the cat are additional birds, several butterflies, papyrus, lotus, and his master’s bare legs. You can also just see the small daughter of Nebamun sitting on the ground, her hand wrapped around his forward-striding leg. The red ochre pigment dominates, but the papyrus is an Egyptian blue mixed with some green, and the cat is orange with yellow, while the wading bird in the cat’s jaws is mostly yellow, with a red head and white and black wings. From the Tomb of Nebamun, 18th dynast, ca. 1350 BCE British Museum, London Photo: my own

ALT Three levels of ancient Roman glass, all brilliantly colored. At the top is a ‘Hercules club’ style beaker in gorgeous amber glass, and next to it is a tiny amphora of brilliant iridescent blue-green glass. On the tier below that is a medium sized vessel with silver threads winding their way around a body of pale blue glass. At the bottom, a fat ribbed vessel of the palest green. There are more, but it’s almost impossible to describe them all.

ALT Stunningly symmetrical black lacquer vase, typical of the water vase form, almost egg-shaped and footed. It has a narrow band on the body depicting gilded griffins, lions and panthers, all in relief. But the show-stopper is the relief composition encircling the shoulders, showing the deities mostly of the Eleusinian circle. We see Rhea, mother of the Olympian gods; the goddess of the Underworld Hecate holding a torch in her hand; the young Dionysus holding a thyrsus; the goddess of agriculture and fertility Demeter; Athena sitting on a rock; Artemis holding two torches in her hands and Aphrodite. The figures are painted and gilded. Photo by Hermitage Museum/Yuri Molodkovets.

ALT Roman cast blue rippenschale drinking bowl with ribbed decoration around the body. Traces of white glass trails are visible across the ribs and once decorated the areas in between the ribs, as indicated by faint areas of iridescence. Bands of white glass decorate the area just below the slightly flared lip. The bottom of the vessel has a spiraling trail of white glass. Getty Villa Museum. Photo: my own

ALT Roman cast translucent purple rippenschale drinking bowl with spiraling white glass decoration combed around the ribs. The bowl has a slightly flaring rim. Getty Villa Museum. Photo: my own

ALT Closeup of the rear medallion on a gold hairnet, which was made to enclose a gathered bun of hair at the back of the head, gold chains with beads radiate out from the medallion, and two tassels with gold and garnet beads hang downwards. In the center of the medallion is a very dimensional repousée relief bust of the goddess Aphrodite wearing a diadem; a tiny winged baby Eros is on her shoulder. This type of clipea is seen in art from the Greek and Roman worlds. Surrounding the central disk is a border of palmettes, and surrounding that is a step pattern which may have been filled with either gem or enamel inserts. Getty Villa (92.AM.8.1)

ALT Tall copper alloy dice tower, with two pinecone finials at the front two edges, and perforations on all four joined plates, allowing the users to see the dice fall down the chute, hitting the baffles inside, creating random motion in the dice. At the bottom of this chute is an opening, where the dice fall down a short flight of steps, and ring the three bells suspended from the top edge. A metal lip extends at the bottom, framed on either side with dolphins. Large capital letters are punched into the front and around the top of the tower. Four differently-sized dice and playing pieces are showing around the base of the tower.

ALT Herds of wild goats and spotted deer graze in single file on the lower registers of this trefoil oinochoe (three-spouted pitcher). On the shoulder of the vase, pairs of dogs, enormous water birds, and sphinxes flank a floral element. The cream-colored background is neatly filled with various patterns including rosettes, some of which are brought to life by small birds perched on their petals. The rows of goats have given their name to this type of pottery decoration: the Wild Goat style. Animals arranged in friezes appear frequently in Greek art of this period. At this time, Greeks came into closer contact with their neighbors in the Near East, where repetitive bands of animal decoration were common. The disks applied to the rim on either side of the handle of this oinochoe are clearly derived from metalwork. abt. 625 BCE, Miletos, Greece. Getty Villa Museum (81.AE.83) Photo: my own

ALT Closeup of a section of the shoulder of the vessel, showing a small dog, large goose, and a sphinx marching in file. Lots of smaller designs, particularly rosettes, fill in the empty space. In fact, a little bird is perched on a rosette between the goose and sphinx! Photo: my own

ALT Painted terracotta cinerary urn with a figure of a young man reclining on the lid and a molded panel on the chest. Resting his weight on his left elbow on a red and pink striped pillow and a blue pillow, he wears a white tunic (chiton) with a purple stripe, a mantle with a purple border, and a gold finger-ring, and holds a yellow libation bowl (phiale) meant to look like gold. Oddly, the name of a woman, Thana Ancarui Thelesa, is painted on the chest of the urn above a scene of five embattled warriors, who are a riot of colorful cloaks and armor. As a result of this mixup(?), we’ll never know the young man’s name. Were the lid and urn mixed up in antiquity or in the modern age? If in antiquity, would it have been an accident or intentional - if the latter, why? Etruscan ca. 150-100 BCE From Chiusi, Italy British Museum (1926,0324.124, Terracotta D 795) Photo: my own

ALT Terracotta torso of a man with the internal organs exposed. In the Etruscan religion, like most ancient religions, the gods acted directly upon human affairs. Therefore, it was necessary to supplicate them with offerings and dedications. Beginning in the late 500s BCE in Greece and then spreading to Etruria in the 300s, worshippers with physical ailments visited sanctuaries and appeased the gods with small terracotta models of the afflicted body part. Clay images of eyes, breasts, limbs and their extremities, and other body parts were the most frequent offerings, outnumbering other kinds of votives. Torsos that reveal the internal organs were made in Veii. Etruscan, 300-200 BCE Getty Villa Museum (73. AD.83) Photo: my own

ALT Extracted from Google Arts & Culture: This depiction of Aphrodite is characterised by a rare sensuality. Her gown is draped low, just covering the right breast while the fineness of the fabric reveals more of the abdomen than it conceals. The hair is fastened at the back of the head and crowned with a diadem. The goddess has also been adorned with large earrings. The attitude of the deity's posture is difficult to interpret as her attributes have been lost. The turn of the head away from the object in her hands suggests there may have been a complementary figure standing there, such as a small cupid. The raised left leg indicates that it once stood on a plinth or a larger structure like a column. The front of the statue was formed in a mould and then retouched; the rear has been fairly neglected in comparison. Probably from Myrina in Asia Minor, a town that like Tanagra was famous for its terracotta.

ALT Fourth style fresco depicting Perseus freeing Andromeda from her chains on the rocks, having just killed the sea monster (the ketos, lower left) with the (tiny!) head of Medusa and his harpe sword, both of which he's holding with his left hand. The wings on his ankles indicate that he's been given the power of flight by Hermes. His dark skin is an excellent contrast to her milky white skin and her bright golden yellow peplos. This fresco was painted on one of two pilasters that flanked the entrance to the house's peristyle garden. The famous Medea fresco was painted on the other pilaster. House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii (VI 9, 6-7), peristyle 53. 62-79CE Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN inv. 8998)

ALT Exactly the same scene as the fresco from the House of the Dioscuri. This, however, has much less background detail and adds two people - a man and a woman? - who sit on the rocks to the left. Here, Andromeda also wears the same golden yellow peplos which has slipped off her right shoulder, exposing her breast (same as the one from the Dioscuri). Here also, Perseus looks down at the dead sea monster and not up at Andromeda, which is odd. The pale and tiny head of Medusa is tucked into his cloak - clasped at his throat, otherwise he is entirely naked - and has fine details. This particular subject became popular around the first half of the 1st c. CE. House of the Prince of Montenegro, Pompeii (VII Insula Occidentalis, 13-18). 20-45 CE. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN inv. 8997)

ALT Here we have a much smaller fresco panel than the original from the House of the Dioscuri, perhaps 1/4 size. The composition is identical to the one from the House of the Prince of Montenegro, including the two people sitting on the rocks on the left. It’s very fragmentary and has suffered quite a lot, so although it appears to be poor artistically, it might have appeared better when new. Here, Perseus seems to have a winged hat that’s hanging down his back from a cord around his neck. The hat of Hermes. Herculaneum, Gymnasium, Insula Orientalis (II 4, 10). ca. 45-79 CE. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN inv. 8993)

ALT Side view of the gilded Apollo statue from Lillebonne, on display at the Louvre. The gilding is patchy around his body, most fully present and blindingly pure on the stomach and chest. Photo by Jerry on Flickr.

ALT Closeup of a horse's head from one of the wall reliefs from the palace of Nineveh. Florets cover the leather harness, with larger flowers at the various junctures of leather straps. A crescent-shaped crest - probably gilded wood or metal, with horsehair crest - are on the top of each horse's head. This was once covered in bright pigments and gilding. 7th c. BCE, Nineveh (modern Mosul, Iraq). British Museum. Photo: my own.

ALT Another relief of a tall horse, with a beautifully decorated harness. Florets and circles are embossed onto the harness' leather, and a crest on top of the horse's head shows sun rays and flowers. A groom with a curled beard and decorative clothing and a sword is pulling the horse's harness tight. Photo: my own