The Phoenix Ancient Art gallery celebrates the 10th-anniversary of its publishing activity. Back in history, it started with 2005, no.1 catalogue which presented a choice of pieces representing the ancient Egyptian, Near Eastern, Western Asiatic, Greek, and Roman art. Since, the annual catalogues, sometimes in two issues, continued to introduce the most important gallery items focusing in their highest quality and artistic value. The full format, bilingual catalogue entries and a supreme quality of photographs are all inseparable features of these publications. In addition to these annual catalogues, the Phoenix Ancient Art introduced several individual publications which were based on the gallery thematic exhibitions. The publications were made in collaboration with prominent scholars and museum curators which qualifies the level of the involved research work and the presentation of the pieces.

The very special publication series are five issues of Crystal, with their volumes bound in hard cover, with larger plates and additional views of each item, and the comprehensive catalogue entries. These publications of exclusive quality are designed to showcase the outstanding works of art from the ancient Western civilizations. With this current issue the gallery acknowledges the variety of previous publications and marks the new publishing approach. Numbered as 29, the catalogue is set in relation to all precedent volumes. Its carefully selected fifteen pieces, remarkable in style and artistic workmanship, are highly important for the art history of the ancient world.

The impressive male marble statue of the Roman Imperial period represents a god or, most probably, a Roman in the guise of Hermes. Considering the over life-size of the figure and the presence of puntelli left on its back by the sculptor (the measured points necessary in the marble sculpture technique), one can conclude that this was the statue of the emperor made after a famous official model designed to be replicated and presented at different parts of the Empire.

The style and the type follow the creations by Polykleitos which were so praised by the Romans; the beauty of the heroic nudity is striking. The theme of a heroicized historical person is continuing with the presentation of the magnificent head of Alexander the Great. Executed from a grey marble, it was part of a herm made of a different color or white marble; the entire piece produced a strong decorative effect. The portrait created in the idealized manner keeps the characteristic features of Alexander’s iconography. His captivating gaze is engaging, and at the same time, otherworldly and ethereal. This feature relates the sculpture to the work of Lysippos, who is known to have given portraits of Alexander a sharp and penetrating look. There is another opportunity to find the image of this great man in the same publication. The composition of the necklace from the golden set includes a large glass cameo representing the head of Alexander in profile. The lion skin over the head alludes to Heracles and his first heroic deed (slaying the Nemean lion; another episode from his story, Heracles fighting the centaur Nessos, is painted on the black-figure krater of mid-6th century B.C. which is shown in the same catalogue). Heracles was considered as legendary ancestor by the Macedonian kings; when Alexander received his extensive posthumous cult as the god, the commemorative monuments with sculptures representing the young Alexander as Heracles would be found across the whole Hellenistic world. One can note a laurel wreath in the cameo head, an unmistakable sign of such a glorification.

The golden set has also a pair of the identical bracelets, each decorated with the glass cameo depicting a dog. The representation is charming as it captures the characteristic moment of the dog’s rest (the head put on the spread forelegs), it is also unusual because the figure is shown as seen from above - it remains almost unique among the images of the Classical animalistic art. The true masterpiece of it is undoubtedly the large bronze foot, probably of Chimera. It may well be that it belonged to the figure of the fantastic beast and made part of the group which included the hero Bellerophon and his horse Pegasus. The entire sculptural group could be designed as an enormous pyramidal composition typical for the baroque style of the Late Hellenistic period; such a group would be a very expensive commission from someone influential and wealthy and an important temple dedication.

A temple piece from another cultural era is introduced by a Byzantine marble panel. Modeled as a framework, it presents an exquisite finesse only comparable to the objects carved of ivory. The motif of the three crosses is accompanied by the acanthus leaves and the pine tree cones, symbols of rebirth, eternity and afterlife. The lines of the geometric ornament on the sides of the panel are doubled by the incision which enriches the decoration.

Two Syro-Palestinian bronze figures dated back to the 2nd millennium B.C. were shaped as narrow bodies with disproportionally large heads; the shapes look almost abstract, and in this way similar to the contemporary sculpture. The figures could represent the deities of war or divinized kings or ancestors and be the votive objects. One cannot miss the expression of their faces with narrow but prominent eyes, serene and transcendental. The pieces presented in this issue possess even more than just the aesthetic appeal; their importance lies in the historical information, unique stories on the art, culture, and spiritual life of different civilizations that an attentive scholar or a passionate collector would reveal.