Look up at the top shelf of this case. Find the white marble statuette of the man in a chair, holding a musical instrument—there are two very similar to each other. We’re going to look at the one on the left.

Do you recognize that three-sided instrument that he’s holding? Imagine strings running from top to bottom. This man’s playing a harp. His head bends back, as if he’s lost in the music. You’re listening to music played on a modern harp. But we’re not sure what this ancient Greek instrument sounded like. Have you ever tried playing a harp? It takes strong fingers. This figure has big, muscular fingers and arms. He might be a poet as well a musician. The ancient Greek poets spoke their verses out loud, and often accompanied themselves on stringed instruments like the harp.

This sculpture is more than four thousand years old. Like the other sculptures in this room, it comes from a group of islands named the Cyclades. The marble figures from the Cyclades are called Cycladic sculptures. Cycladic sculptures mark the beginning of a long history of Greek and Roman sculptures in marble, as you’ll see in some of the other rooms nearby.