Unseen Museum

24 MAY 2024 - 19 AUGUST 2024

“The last Aphrodites”

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Multi-coloured Coptic textile (inv. no. ΑΙΓ 8381) depicting a naked female figure with her entourage: Aphrodite or Nereid, with a young Eros and Nymphs or Nereids, who hold canisters with the Tree of Life. (Photographic Archive of the Hellenic National Archaeological Museum).
Textile fragment (inv. no ΑΙΓ 8385) depicting a naked dancer, a Maenad, Dionysus or some other mythological person. (Photographic Archive of the Hellenic National Archaeological Museum).
Ivory carvings (inv. nos ΑΙΓ 947, 949) llustrating Aphrodites or Nereids among dolphins and sea creatures. (Photographic Archive of the Hellenic National Archaeological Museum).

The Unseen Museum is the well-known exhibition project of the Hellenic National Archaeological Museum that brings to the fore antiquities stored in its vaults away from the visitor’s eyes.

The Unseen Museum presents “The last Aphrodites”. It is a small exhibition set that includes two ivory carvings and two fragments of Coptic textiles from Egypt of late antiquity. All four artefacts illustrate Aphrodites, Nereids or other mythological figures. The two carvings, dating to the 4th century AD, were destined to decorate bridal jewellery boxes, chests or other precious vessels. The textiles in display, are dated to the period in which Coptic weaving flourished, from the 5th to the 7th cent. A.D. They were sewn on luxurious tunics, draperies or cushions of the early Christians of Egypt. The “Last Aphrodites” are exhibited in the “Hall of the Altar” (Hall no 34) from Friday 24 May to Monday 19 August 2024.

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