World Culture Galleries

The A.G. Leventis Foundation Gallery of Ancient Cyprus

Level 3, Philosophers' Walk Wing
The A.G. Leventis Foundation Gallery of Ancient Cyprus showcases approximately 300 pieces from the ROM's extensive collection of Cypriot artifacts. The gallery focuses on the art created in Cyprus between the Bronze Age and the Hellenistic era (2200 - 30 BC). Divided into five sections, the gallery highlights the island's strategic location in the Eastern Mediterranean and the resulting multiculturalism.

Cyprus and Commerce highlights the importance copper played in early Cypriot history, making the island very enticing to conquering nations like Assyria, Egypt, Persia and Rome. Nestled in the gallery is a very rare bronze relief sculpture of a man carrying a large copper ingot—the mineral copper takes its name from the Greek word for the island, Kypros. Ancient Cypriot Pottery Types describes the many unique pottery styles created between the Bronze Age and the Hellenistic era. The Sculptures section explains how the use of local limestone rather than imported marble gave Cypriot statues a very distinct look and feel. Ancient Cyprus at a Glance is divided into six different themes including Cyprus as the birthplace of Aphrodite, Cyprus as an ally of Alexander the Great, and the Hellenization of Cyprus around 1200 BC. Art & Society: Interpretations is a quick guide to the relationship between art and society on ancient Cyprus, starting from the Early Cypriot to the Classical/Hellenistic periods.

Highlights include two grave displays, one from the Early Cypriot period the other from the Cypro-Geometric period. Grave artifacts sit on a reconstructed dig site, featuring a large photograph of typical dig sites as a backsplash. A reconstructed open-air sanctuary features the ROM's collection of votive sculptures from the Sanctuary of Apollo at Frangissa (near the ancient city of Tammosos), discovered in 1885. Photographs of the original dig are prominently displayed beside the sanctuary.

The gallery is named for the A.G. Leventis Foundation, in appreciation of their generous support of the gallery. Anastasios Leventis, who established one of the largest companies in West Africa, created the A.G. Leventis Foundation in May 1979. The aim of the Foundation is to support educational, cultural, artistic and philanthropic causes in Cyprus, Greece and elsewhere.