Classical carry on

Now back at my desk, attempting to install a full working knowledge of Iliad 24. But enlivened by a few days at the Copenhagen Glyptotek, which is possibly the best museum of classical artefacts I’ve ever visited. While its collections don’t really rival the British Museum, the Louvre, or even Basel, it’s certainly the only museum I’ve seen with a palm lined atrium:

And its collections of Greek and Roman portraits are beautifully laid out in a succession of rooms with mosaic floors and trompe l’oeuil painting, and include a bust of Vespasian, my favourite emperor, looking exactly like Sid James:

And a very pleasing ’severed head in gigantic disembodied claw’ motif, apparently designed to keep intruders from Etruscan tombs:

Which strikes me as very effective – I could do with one by my desk at work.