George and Nefeli Giabra Pierides Collection (Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation)

Website of the Museum, housed at the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation (Nicosia). Impressive collection of Cypriot antiquities, with a representative collection of Cypriot limestone sculptures (especially votary heads). Scroll down for thumbnail images of display cases. The collection was published by V. Karageorghis in 2002 (see bibliography under ‘Museums and Catalogues’)

Museum of Cycladic Art

Website of the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens (Greece), which houses a small, but interesting corpus of Cypriot antiquities, including sculpture. Highlights include the upper torso of an archaic, draped make wearing a conical cap, as well as two Classical limestone statues featuring, respectively, a reclining male and seated female. The museum maintains a dedicated webpage for its Cypriot collection, including short essays on geography, history, trade, etc.

The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology (University of Michigan)

Database search for the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan. The Kelsey Museum houses a fine collection of Cypriot sculpture, primarily from the site of Golgoi. The sculptures were originally part of the Cesnola Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and were bought at auction in the Anderson Gallery sales of 1928. The limestone and terracotta sculptures in the Kelsey were published by F. Albertson in 1991 (see Bibliography, ‘Museum Catalogues and Special Collections’). Search Hint: use site name ‘Golgoi’.

The Cesnola Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)

A site dedicated to the Cypriot galleries at the Met. There is some background information on the collection and a selection of images. The Cesnola Collection is among the largest and most important collections of Cypriot antiquities in the world, especially with regards to sculpture. On February 7, 2017, The Met made all images of public-domain works in its collection available under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) and this includes its collection of Cypriot art. Search the collections here.

Also from the Met: Timeline of Art History Illustrated guide to the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, with several links of interest to Cypriot archaeologists, including:

The Cesnola Collection of the Metropolitan Museum
Prehistoric Cypriot Art and Culture
Cyprus – Island of Copper
Geometric and Archaic Cypriot Art
Hellenistic and Roman Cypriot Art

The Ashmolean Museum Collection of Cypriot Art

The link above provides access  to the Ashmolean’s online collection, which can be searched. A more specific, brief introduction to the Cypriot collections including historical overview of the collection is also available. The sculpture was published previously in the (now out-of-print) handbook by A. C. Brown and H. Catling (see link above under ‘Research and Discourse’).

The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art (Chicago)

Located on the University of Chicago’s Hyde Park campus, the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of over 7000 objects, spanning five centuries of both Western and Eastern civilizations. Among the holdings, in a collection of Cypriot pottery and some Cypriote sculpture. Access to the museum’s collections is available on-line via the Smart Museum Online Database Project.

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (Sarasota, FL)

An impressive collection of Cypriot sculpture and other antiquities is housed in the Ringling Museum. The objects were purchased as part of the Metropolitan Museum’s sale of ‘duplicates’ in the Cesnola collection in 1928 by Anderson Galleries. Part of the collection has now been placed on-line. Inconsistencies in classification detract from the functionality of the search engine. A panoramic view of the gallery of Cypriot sculpture in the Astor Library is available from the Ringling’s website; walk forward into the next room to view the Cypriot antiquities on display. The collection was published by N. Kershaw in 1983 (see Bibliography, ‘Museum Catalogues and Special Collections’; see also Minter 1971).

The Norwich Free Academy Slater Memorial Museum Cast Collection (Norwich, CT)

A spectacular and rather unexpected collection of ancient casts can be found in the Slater Museum of the Norwich Free Academy (CT). The plaster cast collection is among the largest and best preserved in the United States and includes masterpieces of ancient sculpture (including architectural sculpture), as well as large collection of Cypriot sculptures from the Cesnola Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). Images from the collection of plaster casts in the Slater Memorial Museum are available through the On-line Gallery of the Slater Cast Collection.

The British Museum

The British Museum houses a substantial collection of Cypriot antiquities, including objects from the excavations of Lang at ancient Idalion. A selection of images are now available on the BM website via the museum’s on-line collections database. Images can also be requested, free, for download.

The Medelhavsmuseet (Stockholm)

The Medelhavsmuseet houses an impressive collection of Cypriot antiquities (including limestone and terracotta sculpture), primarily from the excavations of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition. The collection is being re-installed in a new gallery as part of the on-going efforts of the Leventis Foundation to exhibit and publish collections of Cypriot material in foreign museums. Aside from the SCE, the collections in the Medelhavsmuseet are published in Karageorghis 1977a and Karageorghis, et al. 2003 (see Bibliography under ‘Museum Catalogues and Special Collections’); see also Törnkvist 1972 (under ‘Typology and Attributes’) for a discussion of the terracotta statuary of Ayia Irini. The collections can be searched on the museum’s webpage here.

The Leventis Foundation (Nicosia, Cyprus)

The Leventis Foundation, under the direction of Dr. Vassos Karageorghis, has made enormous efforts to re-install and publish collections of Cypriot antiquities housed in foreign museums. Leventis has published a significant number of museum catalogues (listed under ‘Publications’). Those of special significance for Cypriot sculpture are listed in the Bibliography under ‘Museum Catalogues and Special Collections’.

The Worcester Art Museum

A splendid, late archaic head of a female votary/divinity wearing an elaborate headdress from the ancient art galleries of the Worcester Art Museum.

Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

An impressive collection of Cypriot antiquities searchable here (note: search Zypern), including the well known, elegant draped male votary said to be from Pyla. The Cypriot collection has recently been published by Bernhard-Walcher, et al. in 1999. (see Bibliography under ‘Catalogues’)

Musée du Louvre

The Louvre contains one of the largest collections of Cypriot art in the world, a testament to 19th c. French antiquarian activity. In particular, its large and impressive collection of Cypriot sculpture has been published by Hermary 1989 (see Bibliography under ‘Catalogues’); this has become the de facto handbook for the study of Cypriot sculpture. The museum maintains a searchable database ‘Atlas‘.