Guided tour · Guess first · Guess first

How old is it?

Eight works from four museums. Guess when each was made before you hear the story: some are far older than they look, and two are younger.

Opens the interactive flight at this tour, with a guide's voice. It needs a modern browser; the same works are shown below.

Works

8

Time

about 9 min

Collections

4

About this tour

At every work, choose when you think it was made, then hear the answer. Some of these look new but are thousands of years old. Ready?

We begin on an island in the Aegean Sea.

The 8 works

1. 

   Work 1 of 8

   Marble female figure

   Attributed to the Bastis Master, Cycladic · 2600–2400 BC · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   This figure looks almost modern. When do you think it was made?

   About 4,500 years ago, on the Cycladic islands in the Aegean Sea. Figures like this were carved in marble, and many once had painted details. Their clean, simple shapes later fascinated modern sculptors.

2. 

   Work 2 of 8

   Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)

   Katsushika Hokusai · about 1830–32 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   Perhaps the most famous wave in art. When was this print made?

   Around 1830 to 1832, by Katsushika Hokusai in Edo, today's Tokyo. It is a colour woodblock print from his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: the small mountain sits under the wave. Prints like this were made in their thousands and sold cheaply.

3. 

   Work 3 of 8

   Hippopotamus ("William")

   Egypt, Middle Kingdom · about 1961–1878 BC · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   This blue hippopotamus could be a toy from a shop today. How old is it?

   About 3,900 years old. It was made in Egypt in the Middle Kingdom, of blue faience, and the plants painted on its body show the marshes where hippos lived. At the Met it is known as William.

4. 

   Work 4 of 8

   The Drawbridge

   Giovanni Battista Piranesi · published 1749/1750 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

   Giant bridges, stairs and chains: it could be a film set. When was it made?

   Around 1750, in Rome. Giovanni Battista Piranesi etched it for his Imaginary Prisons, a series of vast spaces that exist only on paper. Some eleven years later he reworked the plates and made them darker still.

5. 

   Work 5 of 8

   Ritual Wine Container (Yu)

   China · late 11th century BC · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   A bronze container for wine, covered with raised patterns. When was it cast?

   In the late 11th century BC, more than 3,000 years ago. In ancient China, bronze vessels like this held wine for ceremonies honouring the ancestors. The green comes from centuries of age.

6. 

   Work 6 of 8

   Interior in Strandgade, Sunlight on the Floor

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1901 · SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

   Sunlight on the floor of a quiet room. It looks like an old Dutch painting. When was it painted?

   In 1901, in Copenhagen. Vilhelm Hammershøi painted the rooms of his own flat in Strandgade again and again, often empty or with one figure. He chose his homes with care: "I personally prefer the Old; old buildings, old furniture," he said.

7. 

   Work 7 of 8

   Narcissus basin with bluish-green glaze, Ru ware

   China, Northern Song dynasty · late 11th–early 12th century · National Palace Museum, Taipei

   A simple oval dish in soft blue-green. It could be modern design. When was it made?

   Around 1100, under China's Northern Song dynasty. Ru ware was made for the imperial court for only a few decades, and very few pieces survive. All its beauty lies in its shape and its soft, even glaze.

8. 

   Work 8 of 8

   Cat Seated under a Chair

   Hugh R. Hopgood, after an Egyptian wall painting · 1916; original about 1504–1458 BC · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   Last one. This cat comes from an Egyptian tomb. When was this picture painted?

   In 1916! It is a careful copy, painted by Hugh R. Hopgood after a wall painting in a tomb from about 1500 BC. Copies like this were made to record the old paintings faithfully.

The end of the tour

From a marble figure about 4,500 years old to a copy painted in 1916: how old a work looks says little about how old it is.

Start this tour in Auriaan

Works from these collections

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• National Gallery of Art
• SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
• National Palace Museum

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