From Hyperborea to the Middle Sea and Back

The second volume of the electronic series Grifos by the Finnish Institute at Athens explores the Finnish history of antiquities collecting and the influence of ancient culture in “Hyperborea”, as Finland was referred to by one of the prominent collectors. Over the course of the twentieth century, an art historian, a painter, and a clergyman from Finland travelled throughout the Mediterranean and adjoining lands and acquired what is now the antiquarian collection of 66 pieces in the Joensuu Art Museum. It is one of the few such collections publicly displayed in Finland, and this publication in Finnish covers the entire corpus for the first time. The travel reports and paintings of these collectors throw light on their inspirations and goals in collecting. These tangible mementoes, ranging from vases to sculptures, from figurines to lamps, are studied through the connected myths, iconography, and uses of the objects, their circulation through ancient trade, as well their later, modern travels that eventually found them in Finland.