The world of Alexander

A carved column drum turns the support of a building into a scene of figures. The example from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos is one of the large works in Room 22. It brings sculpture and architecture together at a scale quite different from the jewellery and small objects around it. The gallery concerns the world that followed Alexander, the Macedonian king whose conquests spread Greek rule across a wide territory. After his death, several kingdoms developed from that empire. Artists and objects moved through this connected world. Demeter of Knidos, a seated goddess, offers another focus. Her figure can be considered as a sculpture in its own right, while the column fragment keeps its original architectural function in view. The room allows both kinds of looking, from a face or fold of clothing to the larger setting a work once occupied.