Mediterranean Section Collection Highlights

The collections of the Mediterranean Section of the Penn Museum comprise some 34,000 objects of Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Cypriot, and Bronze Age Aegean origins, as well as small numbers of artifacts from related culture areas. The acquisition of objects from classical lands, especially excavated archaeological material, was a primary interest in the Museum's early years, when the collections were enriched through the acquisition of excavated material from Italy and from Crete. Subsequently, Museum excavations at Kourion and Lapithos on Cyprus added additional archaeological material to the collections. Donations and purchases from the first half of the 20th century have also added to the collections, as, for example, with Roman glass and coins, Greek vases, and the Maikop treasure. An important addition was the gift in 1904, by Philadelphia department store founder John Wanamaker, of some 450 bronze reproductions, mainly of objects from Pompeii and Herculaneum housed at the Naples Museum. Produced by the famed workshop of Chiurazzi and Son, the collection consists of objects of daily life as well as small- and large-scale statues.