September 13, 2026
The Met announces a major exhibition on the cross-cultural roots of ancient Greek artThe Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced Across Wine-Dark Seas: Art and Identity beyond Ancient Greece, a major exhibition opening on 20 December 2026. The project will explore the period from the eighth to the early fifth century BCE as an age of intensive movement, trade and cultural exchange rather than an isolated chapter of Greek achievement.
A Mediterranean network
Greek traders, craftspeople, settlers and mercenaries encountered communities across West Asia, the Balkans, North Africa and Europe. According to The Met, those contacts had a profound effect on artistic production on all sides. The exhibition will use objects and visual narratives to show how materials, techniques, forms and stories travelled through this connected world.
The museum has secured major international loans from 11 countries, including Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Spain and Tunisia. Works from more than two dozen collections will be brought together, allowing visitors to compare objects that are normally separated by national borders and museum departments.
Beyond a single origin story
The curatorial approach challenges the familiar idea that ancient Greek art developed as a self-contained tradition and then influenced its neighbours. Instead, innovation appears as a result of reciprocal contact. Images of travel and myth — including the journeys of Herakles — offer evidence for how Greeks imagined places and peoples beyond the boundaries of their own cities.
The exhibition is curated by Seán Hemingway, Alexis Belis and Delphine Tonglet of The Met’s Department of Greek and Roman Art. A catalogue with contributions from more than 70 authors will accompany the show. Across Wine-Dark Seas is scheduled to open on 20 December 2026; related public programmes will be announced later. | 
