The Ages of Greece

'The Ages of Greece' was the first iteration of our ongoing exhibition series, Impressions of Greece that brings together ancient Greek artefacts with the landscapes and culture of modern Greece captured in the photographs of William J Woodhouse (1890–1920). 

The installation paired artefacts from the 'historic ages of Greece' with Woodhouse's photographs of early modern Greece. The Bronze Age was represented with a kylix cup with stylised warrior figures and a photograph of the Lion Gate of Mycenae with a slightly blurred figure of a Greek woman standing to the side of the shot. 

The Classical Age was represented by a red-figure krater depicting Theseus' homecoming to Athens with a view of the Acropolis taken from the area of the Agora, looking up to the walled sanctuary. 

The Byzantine Age, or Orthodox Greece, was represented by an Icon depicting the Anastasis, or descent of Christ into hell, with an unknown Orthodox church set below a rocky hill. 

At the time when Woodhouse was travelling and conducting his research, contemporary Greece was often defined as the East, and othered, while its historic ages were lauded as the source of Western culture. By bringing these ages together using layers of photographs, architecture and objects – the most well-known eras of Greek history are visually tied to the early modern period, addressing the latter's marginalisation in scholarship and public perception.