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Through a selection of 163 exquisite objects from the Benaki Museum collections covering a chronological span of eight thousand years and presenting a dazzling variety of objects, the book offers a spectacular panorama of the creativity of the Greek world through history: from antiquity and the period of Roman rule to the medieval Byzantine period, from the fall of Byzantium followed by the centuries of Frankish and Ottoman occupation to the outbreak of the struggle for independence and the formation of the modern Greek State. The objects are presented in four units – Greek and Roman, Byzantine, Post-Byzantine and Neo-Hellenic – each prefaced by an essay providing a historical background and outlining the aesthetic trends of each period and prevailing thematic repertoire. The catalogue entries analyse the artistic, stylistic and iconographic traits of each object and highlight the socio-economic factors as reflected in the selection of materials, technique and decorative motifs.