Archaeological Museum of Corfu

The Lion of Menecrates. Funerary statue of a crouching lion, found near the cenotaph of Menecrates. This is the work of a famousCorinthian sculptor of the Archaic period. Dated end of the 7th century BC.

Pediment with Dionysos at the Corfu Museum. Left part of an Archaic pediment from the area of Figareto. It depicts a Dionysiac symposium. Dated to 500 BC.

The Gorgon as depicted on the western pedimentfrom the Artemis Temple of Corfu, on display at the Archaeological Museum of Corfu.

Hoplite armour exhibit. Note the gold inserts around the chest area of the bronze upper torso plate at the centre of the exhibit. The helmet on the upper left is a restored version of the oxidised helmet on the right.

Funerary stele with inscription

Exhibit of some of theterracotta statuettes ofArtemis. They were found in large quantities in the small temple of Artemis at Kanoni in Corfu city.

Base and body of Archaic kore

Marble torso of Apollo

Busts and architectural details

A hall at the museum

The collections of the museum include:
A collection of unknown origin.
Finds from excavations from the ancient city of Corfu.
Finds from the region of Cassiope in Corfu
Finds from excavations in the district of Thesprotia.

The main exhibits are:
The Gorgon pediment from the Artemis temple of Corfu.[1] It is the oldest stone pediment in Greece dated to 590-580 BC and is described in the New York times review of the museum as: the finest example of Archaic temple sculpture extant.
The Lion of Menecrates. This is the work of a famous Corinthian sculptor of the Archaic period. Dated to the end of the 7th century BC.
The pediment of Dionysus (Bacchus). Dated to 500 BC.
The base and part of the body of a kore from the late Archaic period. It was found during the excavation of a pottery workshop in the area of Figareto.
A marble torso of Apollo. This is a copy of the original statue of "Parnopios Apollo" created by Pheidias (its type is known as the "Kassel Apollo"). Dated to the 2nd century AD.
Funerary stele of Philistion daughter of Agenos and Arpalis, with inscription: Φιλίστιον Χ[αιρε]. Δοιαί μεν δεκάδες σε τελειοτόκων ενιαυτών ήδη και τριτάτου κύκλος επείχεν έτευς μισγομένα φθιμένοιαι, φιλίστιον, ανίκα πέ[νθος] ματρί πολυθρηνήτω κάλλιπες Αρπαλίδι. δώμα δ’ Αριστάνδροιο λελονχότος άκριτον αί[σαν] και τέκεα κρυερά θήκας εν ορφανία. Αγήνος κλυτόν αίμα, σε δ’ ύστατον ύπνον ελο[ύσαν]. πικρός όδε ζοφερά τύμβος έδεκτ[ο κόνει]. approximately translated as: Greetings Philistion. You went twenty three years old in the underworld and left your mother Arpalis in mourning, your husband Aristandros widower and confused, and the children cold as orphans. [You], the glorious blood of Agenos, having chosen for yourself the last sleep, this bitter, pitch-dark tomb has accepted you [in the dust].
The terracotta statuettes of Artemis. They were found in large quantities in the small temple of Artemis at Kanoni in Corfu city.
Four cases with coins found in excavations at various sites of Corfu.

Head of a small kouros (nude youth). It is made of Kerkyraean poros and was found in 1966, during excavations at the estate of Mon Repos. Dated to 535-530 B.C.

Bronze statuette of a running young reveller (commastes). In his left hand he holds a rhyton (libation vessel). It is probably the product of a Laconian workshop.

Address   Corfu 49100
Perfecture Corfu, Ionian Islands
Ephorate
8th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities

Special ticketing package for the Archaeological Museum of Kerkyra, the Old Fortress
the Church of Antivouniotissa and the Museum of Asian Art: € 8 (reduced: € 4).
Telephone +30-26610-30680

Archaeological Museum ( ttp://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides ) 

Address

1 P. Armeni-Vraila, Corfu

Location

On the corner of Demokratias, the boulevard along the waterfront

Phone

26610 30680

Price

Admission 4€ free Sun

Frommer's Review

Even if you're not a devotee of ancient history or museums, you should take an hour to visit this small museum. On your way to see its master work, you'll pass a stone lion dating from around 575 B.C. (found in the nearby Menekrates tomb, along the waterfront by the museum). Go around and behind it to the large room with arguably the finest example of Archaic temple sculpture extant, the pediment from the Temple of Artemis. (The temple itself is just south of Corfu town and dates from about 590 B.C. The remains do not interest most people.) The pediment features the Gorgon Medusa, attended by two pantherlike animals. You don't have to be an art historian to note how this predates the great classical works such as the Elgin marbles -- not only in the naiveté of its sculpture but also in the emphasis on the monstrous, with the humans so much smaller in scale.

Interesting for comparison is the fragment from another Archaic pediment found at Figare, Corfu. In an adjoining room, it shows Dionysos and a youth reclining on a couch. Only a century younger than the Gorgon pediment, here the humans have reduced the animal in size and placed it under the couch.