Met Symposium—Journey to the Cyclades
From The Observatory
Date
February 5, 2026
Location
The Met Firfth Avenue
Area
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Join a multi-disciplinary, international group of scholars for a symposium held in conjunction with the display of the Leonard N. Stern Collection of Cycladic Art on loan from Greece and on view at The Met.
The display is the result of a historic 50-year partnership between The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ministry of Culture of the Hellenic Republic, and the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens. The partnership brings 161 Cycladic works of art acquired by businessman and philanthropist Leonard Stern to The Met on long-term loan from the Greek government. As the single most comprehensive private collection of Cycladic art formed outside of Greece, the works include nearly all the major types of marble figures and vessels from the Early Bronze Age, offering an extraordinary opportunity to closely examine a large body of little-known Cycladic works that have been repatriated to Greece.Agenda
Welcome
10:30 am
Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer, The Met
The Stern Collection and Cycladic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Cultural Patrimony and International Collaboration
Seán Hemingway, John A. and Carole O. Moran Curator in Charge of the Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Met
Session 1
Early Cycladic Archaeology
11 am
Chair—Sue Sheratt, Emeritus Professor of East Mediterranean Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield
The Cyclades in the Early Bronze Age
Paper by Robin Barber, Former Head of the Department of Classical Archaeology, University of Edinburgh
Read by Alexander MacGillivray, Dietrich von Bothmer Research Scholar, Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Met
The Significance of Finds from Early Cycladic Excavations on Naxos and Kouphonisi
Olga Philaniotou, Ephor Emerita of Antiquities
Piecing the Past Together: Studying Disparate Fragments of Early Cycladic Sculpture Across Several Museums
Peggy Sotirakopoulou, Archaeologist, Independent Scholar
Discussion
Lunch Break
12 pm
Session 2
Early Cycladic Interconnections
1 pm
Chair—Alexander MacGillivray, Dietrich von Bothmer Research Scholar, Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Met
The International Islands: Early Bronze Interconnections in the Aegean
Ina Berg, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Manchester
Early Cycladic Silver and its Context
Sue Sherratt, Emeritus Professor of East Mediterranean Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield
Cycladic Figurines in Early Bronze Age Crete: Between Transcendent Bodies and Political Geographies
Eirini Galli, Head of Department of Museology, Museography and Exhibitions, Archaeological Museum Heraklion
Discussion
Session 3
Early Cycladic Art in Museums—New Perspectives
2 pm
Chair—Ioannis Fappas, Assistant Professor of Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Museum of Cycladic Art, Academic Director
New Approaches for the Scientific Study of Early Cycladic Art
De Abramitis, Conservator, Department of Objects Conservation, The Met
Federico Caro, Research Scientist, Department of Scientific Research, The Met
Color and Magic on Early Cycladic Marble Figures
Elizabeth Hendrix, Research Scientist and Independent Scholar
The Keros Head, Masterpiece of the Cycladic Collection in the Louvre: Old and New Information
Ludovic Laugier, Senior Curator in Charge of Greek Sculpture, Greek, Estruscan and Roman Department, Musée du Louvre
Discussion
Break
3 pm
Session 4
The Reception of Early Cycladic Art in the Modern World
3:30 pm
Canon and Divergence in Early Cycladic Art: Issues of Style and Typology
Georgos Gavalas, Curator in the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Alexander MacGillivray, Dietrich von Bothmer Research Scholar, Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Met
In and Out of Place: Christian Zervos, Modern Art, and ‘These Unhappy Cyclades’
Adina Hoffman, Award-winning author
Final Panel Discussion
Culminating Remarks
Seán Hemingway, John A. and Carole O. Moran Curator in Charge of the Department of Greek and Roman Art, The MetKey Speaker: Max Hollein, Seán Hemingway
Participants
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