S H E DDI N G N E W LI G H T O N T H E A N C I E N T M E DIT E RRA N E A N W ORLD : T H E A N U C LA S S I C S C OLL E C TIO N – TAASA Review June 2014

Elizabeth Minchin W hen the Australian National University was a very new institution, its first Professor of Classics, Richard St Clair Johnson, advocated the development of a Classics collection at the University, arguing that a small museum on campus would give students in Canberra, far from ancient sites around the Mediterranean and the great museums of the world, the opportunity to engage with objects once handled and enjoyed by those who lived in the Greek and Roman worlds. Refurbished ANU Classics Museum.

Photo: Stuart Hay In 1962 the ANU Classics collection began to take shape when two items were acquired: a small cup and a black-figure lekythos (oil bottle) depicting Herakles doing battle with the Amazons (one of the hero’s 12 labours).

These items were joined by two equally modest purchases in 1963...