Ancient statue of Venus found on beach in Spain's Costa Blanca www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2...

For centuries these dazzling Roman bowls were misread—until chemical traces exposed an unexpected maker sciencex.com/news/2026-04...

#Spolia pavement in the #Aracoeli for a very belated #SpoliaSunday, on Tuesday. The newly-rebuilt #Franciscan basilica was consecrated in 1268 but floor tombs continually disturbed the #Cosmatesque floor, creating the crazy-pavement of reused ancient stone we see here. #AncientBluesky 🏺

Incense burner from Pompeii, decorated with appliqués of three anthropomorphic female figures and still containing the residue of incense burnt in it #FindsFriday Analysis of the ash revealed the surprising substances burnt in Roman domestic rituals. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

Throughout March, as the world grew more chaotic, I worked on a text about the Aion Mosaic from #Paphos. The 4th c., Constantinian dynasty. New site, new topic, and much work - no time for social media. Unfortunately, my infographic editor won’t translate into English this time, which is a pity.

The façade of a limestone sarcophagus, recovered from a tomb during the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, #Palmyra. With four busts in tondos and carved kline legs, it was once kept in a museum. What happened to it after 2015 -I honestly don’t know. #SarcophagusSaturday

Grand Duke 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 "𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨" 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐯 (1866–1933) reading 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵. Brother-in-law of Nicholas II of Russia and grandson of Nicholas I of Russia. In Paris, in exile after the fall of the empire and the revolution.

A 1st century BCE Roman marble sculpture of four puppies asleep together, discovered in the House of the Faun in Pompeii, and now preserved at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. 🐾💕

Fries and a Diet Coke 💅 a little smoke break. #oilpainting #art

MACHO MAN: Rise of the Pilates bros... www.thetimes.com/life-style/h...

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡, Piero della Francesca (1463–1465), fresco and tempera mural, Museo Civico, Sansepolcro.

I would like to wish everyone peaceful and warm holidays, as well as a moment to catch their breath in an increasingly crazy world 🐣🐓🐥

Polish painter, author, and critic, 𝗝ó𝘇𝗲𝗳 𝗖𝘇𝗮𝗽𝘀𝗸𝗶 (𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟲-𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟯) 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝘆𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗷𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿, Cairo, 1943. On the road from the Soviet Gulags ('Na nieludzkiej ziemi' ‘The Inhuman Land’), through Iran, Iraq, Palestine with General Anders’ Army to Monte Cassino and beyond, to Maisons‑Laffitte ;)

Tuesday

📢 CFP: Howard Burns Seminar on Architectural Drawings “Architectural Drawings in the Renaissance: Anonymous Artists, Copyists, Architects,” org. Guido Beltramini & Bianca de Divitiis, in collab. with the GDSU, 9–10 June 2026. 10 scholarships for scholars under 36. Deadline: 20 Apr ➡️ t1p.de/8n1y8

A 2,000-Year-Old Graffiti Tag Inside the Valley of the Kings Reveals a Surprising Link Between Ancient India and Egypt www.zmescience.com/science/arch...

#SarcophagusSaturday at #palazzoMattei di #Giove in #Rome offers us a chaotic scene of the abduction of #Persephone in three moments, starting at centre with the maiden innocently picking flowers, then at right where she's abducted by #Hades, and at left where #Demeter seeks her. #AncientBluesky 🏺

"I wish I could go to Florence" - For now, I’ve got an Amber Davenport print to hang at home. The producer especially recommends… the kitchen. The kitchen? Well, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ... 📸 Amber Davenport

My latest for @hyperallergic.com is on Egyptian Blue—& a new study by Mishael Quraishi which prices out the Roman cost & manual labor needed to paint the “Blue Room” at Pompeii. Shout outs & thx: @hilarybeckertxny.bsky.social , @diffendale.bsky.social , @chapps.bsky.social, @valentinadl.bsky.social!

Archaeologists Find 1,500-Year-Old Roman Statue Head in Rubble www.popularmechanics.com/science/arch...

“Bernini and the Barberini,” which explores the complex relationship between Gianlorenzo Bernini and his most important patron Pope Urban VIII, opened today at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome

Augustus and Agrippa. Marbles, portraits, busts, carves. #AncientBlueSky 🏺

A reminder that in 2021, @patrickfreyne.bsky.social wrote the best explanatory lede regarding colonialism and monarchy that I have ever seen. www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-r...

On #InternationalWomensDay, it’s worth showcasing 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮, a Byzantine aristocrat who proved that architecture could be a tool of power. Her monumental Church of St. Polyeuctus in Constantinople was so impressive that Justinian had to respond by building Hagia Sophia. #Byzantium #History

#ReliefWednesday - Sassanid relief depicting the triumph of Shapur I (r. AD 240-270) over Valerian at Naqsh-e Rostam, located 3 km north of Persepolis. It is the most impressive of eight Sassanid rock carvings cut into the cliff beneath the tombs of their Achaemenid predecessors.

The latest Pasts Imperfect is out, focused on the closing of humanities depts. & museums. @otavano.bsky.social discusses the U. of Ottawa, @mokersel.bsky.social on the DePaul Art Museum, @meirazk.bsky.social & @vox-magica.bsky.social on shuttering religious studies depts, & Justin Vorhis on U. Iowa.

Excellent. Still, in my view, the colors are perhaps a bit to vivid. But, it my be, I am operating by aesthetic taste from my own context (temporal and geographical) 😀

"Every great culture is born, develops, matures, and dies… everything repeats in cycles." – Oswald Spengler "Just as the Macedonian conquest prepared the ground for Hellenism, the Arab conquest opened the way for the Umayyads and Abbasids." – Arnold Toynbee 📷 me #AncientBluesky 🏺

The fathers and grandfathers of our current leadership

Theoretical Roman Archaeology 2026 Webinar series www.trac.org.uk/uncategorize... @traj-journal.bsky.social @tracconference.bsky.social @nicholasaherne.bsky.social @euuanxcvi.bsky.social

📢CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 📢 🚨Deadline approaching: 10 March 2026 ➡️ t1p.de/igavx

#Cyprus #Aphrodite #EasternMediterranean #CrossroadsofCivilisations

In Greek mythology, #Europa was the daughter of Agenor, king of #Phoenicia (modern Lebanon). From a beach near Sidon she was abducted by Zeus, disguised as a bull, who swam with her to #Crete The eastern Mediterranean seems pivotal to our history from the start 📸 Pompeii (IX 5, 18–21), MAN 111475

Aphrodite riding on a goose, or Leda abducted by Zeus transformed as a swan? That is a question! Probably rather Aphrodite, though recently I am studing Leda's iconography. Greek terracotta from Hellenistic period, circa 2nd c. BC #AncientBluesky 🏺 #Mythology #Aphrodite #Iconography

The consequences speak for themselves.

The closing of African American Studies and GWSS at Iowa is absolutely heartbreaking. It is such an important time to study these subjects. Words really cannot express how upsetting this decision is. www.thegazette.com/higher-educa...

A highlight of early Hellenistic Taranto is the stunning terracotta group of Orpheus and the Sirens, recently returned from the Getty to Italy. While striking, their original setting, possibly on a funerary monument, remains a mystery. Taranto, late 4th c. BCE, 📷 by me #Archaeology 🏺

Amazing quality. Thank you, @chapps.bsky.social!

For #EpigraphyTuesday we're in the #cloister of #SanPaolofuorileMura along the #ViaOstiense heading south out of #Rome. This damaged marble monument recalls a little girl, Felicula, 12 years old, daughter of Cocceia Magna and Cocceius Chrestus, from the later C2 CE. #AncientBluesky 🏺

Good Night!

Nice Lemons 🍋 #oilpainting #art

"The World Saved by Ukrainians" www.ilfoglio.it/esteri/2026/...

Mysterious Greek inscription reignites debate on whether a Syrian mosque stands atop Roman Emperor Elagabalus' Temple. ▶️ phys.org/news/2026-02...

Remarkable details of birds, flowers & insects from the border of this 2nd century Roman floor mosaic in Antioch (present-day Turkey), which depicts Ganymede offering a drink to Zeus (in the form of a cranky eagle). Signed by artist Neikias

Anyway, I have a pdf if anyone would like a copy. I'm very grateful to Eivind Seland and Rubina Raja for inviting me (and having faith that I'd have something to say to the topic, even if I didn't realise it). Claire Taylor and @drdanstewart1.bsky.social talked through all my ideas (and worries)

Right on time!

1. Two 𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐚 mosaics were found near #Antioch, in the village of Yakto. Let’s begin with the one excavated in 2009 during hotel construction works. Set against a creamy background, a female bust in central medallion is surrounded by vivid, coloured flock of birds #MosaicMonday #RomanSyria 🏺

You have until midnight tonight to make your proposal for MA Conference 2026: Museums Connecting Communities 🔗 For this year’s conference in Birmingham and online, we’re looking for proposals for bold, innovative sessions that bring us together to find solutions to the critical issues of the day.