The Chazen's collection of ancient art supports the curricula of several departments on campus, particularly art history and classics, as well as the social studies curriculum of sixth graders. It includes ten sculptures from ancient Egypt and six from the Roman Empire. The oldest object is a relief fragment depicting a priest from the tomb of Ptahhetep II from the Old Kingdom, fifth dynasty. Of the five Roman sculptures in the collection, the most significant are a marble portrait head of a boy, possibly a scion of the Julio-Claudian family, of ca. 50 AD; a finely carved marble dancing satyr dated to the second century AD; and a marble sarcophagus, in deep relief, depicting the Four Seasons, of approximately 280 AD. A half-length bust of a man holding a scroll, also of the third century AD, represents Roman sculpture as practiced in the Eastern Empire. The five sculptures complement a variety of Greco-Roman applied and decorative art objects.

Return to Collection: Sculpture