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From Chaos to Order: Greek Geometric Art from the Sol Rabin Collection is currently on view through April 11, 2021 at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. It is the first major museum exhibition in the United States in more than 25 years to focus on Greek art created during the Geometric period (c. 900-700 B.C.). This standing male statuette appears to be singing or speaking while holding a large stringed musical instrument, the phorminx, a relative of the lyre, preferred by singers of epic poetry. Image: Greek, Homeric Aoidos (Singer), Eighth century B.C., Bronze, The Sol Rabin Collection.

The exhibition includes 57 objects, such as this bronze statuette of a bull that was possibly a dedication at Olympia, drawn from the Sol Rabin Collection—considered the most important private collection of Greek Geometric art. The collection presents decisive new evidence that reconsiders the contributions and innovations of Geometric art and its enduring legacy throughout classical antiquity. Image: Greek (Olympia?), Dancing Bull, Eighth century B.C., Bronze, The Sol Rabin Collection.

The centerpiece of the show is a ring-handled tripod cauldron from the early eighth century B.C., the only example of its time period standing on its legs. Image: Greek, Ring-Handled Tripod Cauldron, Early eighth century B.C., Bronze, The Sol Rabin Collection.

Consisting of fifty-two elements, this bronze zoster, or warrior’s belt, most likely was worn by a Greek chief or king during the Geometric period, singling him out as fit to rule owing to his purported value as a warrior and leader on the battlefield. Image: Greek, Zoster (Warrior’s Belt), Eighth century B.C., Bronze, The Sol Rabin Collection.

This axe was probably used in ritual sacrifices, so this iconography was associated with and sanctioned by the gods. It is characteristic of Geometric art to create works that summarize and balance oppositional elements—in this case, the living world of the present, and its sudden end. Image: Greek (Macedonia), Axe Head with Horse Statuette and Goat, Ram and Bull Protomes, Eighth century B.C., Bronze, The Sol Rabin Collection.

One of the largest Geometric objects to have survived, this figure of a peacock is the earliest known example of the hollow-cast technique in Greek art. Image: Greek, Peacock, Early eighth century B.C., Bronze, Photo courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, The Sol Rabin Collection.

The ancient repairs on this extraordinary object indicate how valued it was over a long period of time, suggesting that it was used as a ritual object, rather than offered as a dedication. It is a cart with oversized wheels driven by two horses and guided by a male figure (possibly the god of wine and theater, Dionysus) wearing a conical hat, or helmet. Image: Greek (Samos?),Wheeled Cart, Eighth century B.C., Bronze, The Sol Rabin Collection.

"Geometric art, essentially a rebirth of Greek art, is about refining beauty to its elemental core. It is a rigorous visual language whose vocabulary is balance, symmetry, and rhythmic repetition leading to monumental wholes," said MFA Senior Curator of Early Western Art Michael Bennett, Ph.D. "It illustrates stories drawn largely from Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey. These great epic poems were soundtracks of the period. They defined the nature of heroism, mortality, divinity, and the workings of the universe. In many ways, Geometric art is frozen poetry."

The exhibition presents a diversity of bronze artworks: statuettes of gods and mortals, horses, and a broad range of animals and other creatures, as well as vases and personal ornaments, such as belts, pendants, and brooches. Image (on top pedestal): Greek (Thessaly?), Helmeted Warrior, Eighth century B.C., Bronze, The Sol Rabin Collection.

A beautiful, fully-illustrated catalogue published by the MFA, St. Petersburg accompanies the exhibition. It is available for purchase at the museum and The MFA Store online.