Two exquisite vessels have left distant Toronto, Canada, for a short visit to the Acropolis Museum. They were made in Athens over 2,500 years ago and were donated to the Royal Ontario Museum through private British collections. Today they return to their birthplace for a few months, in order to highlight another aspect of the social, religious and political life of the region that gave birth to democracy.

They are two Panathenaic amphorae, vessels filled with oil that were given as prize to the victors of contests held during the festival of the Great Panathenaia. One of their sides is decorated with the figure of Athena Promachos and the other with scenes related to the games for which they were given as prizes.

The games took place during the first days of the eight-day long festival of the Panathenaia that was concluded with the grand procession of the Athenian people to the Acropolis. The Toronto amphorae, exhibited in the Parthenon Gallery, converse with the great temple’s frieze, where Pheidias and his collaborators artfully carved the Panathenaic procession.

The amphorae will be exhibited in the Acropolis Museum from 20/06/2022 until 23/04/2023. This presentation is an event taking place simultaneously with the presentation “From Athens to Toronto: A Greek Masterpiece Revealed” at the Royal Ontario Museum where the Acropolis Kore 670 is on display from March 2022. It is organized as part of cultural exchanges between the Acropolis Museum and other great museums abroad, contributing to the enhancing of friendly relations between the people of different countries.

The two Panathenaic amphorae 915.24 and 919.5.148 are on loan from ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), Toronto, Canada.