Original Cycladic figurines, carved in marble, were produced during the third millennium BC. They are remarkable for their abstract simplicity, which is believed to have inspired Picasso, Modigliani, and Moore.
Cycladic art originates from a group of some 30 islands in the southwestern Aegean, including Naxos and Paros, which were known for the quality of their marble. The ancient Greeks called these islands the Kyklades, imagining them as falling within a circle (kyklos) centred around the sacred island of Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis, and the site of their holiest sanctuary.
These Cycladic pieces are copies of originals in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.
