The 2022 London Hellenic Prize

This year’s London Hellenic Prize was awarded to Caroline Vout for her seminal study of classical sculpture, “Exposed: The Greek and Roman Body”. Dr Vout’s book has received great plaudits from classicists, art historians and art critics for its  originality and wide range. Classical sculpture is explored not only as the traditional representation of beauty or religious devotion, but also as the expression of realism, social requirements, human needs and aspirations of everyday life.

From 7th century BC Greek to 4th century AD Roman art, Vout’s work speaks authoritatively and consistently about the interactions between human life, social and political change and their expressions in three-dimensional art forms, often as attempts to sculpt a vision of immortality.  At the Prize-giving ceremony, Oliver Taplin (Emeritus Professor of Classics, University of Oxford) introduced Caroline Vout’s work on classical sculpture. The award was presented by H.E. the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic, Ioannis Tsaousis.

The London Hellenic Prize is awarded each year to an original work in English on a subject relating to Hellenic culture, civilisation, literature and history. Since its inception in 1996 the Prize has been awarded to books on archaeology, architecture, art, classics, history, literary criticism, religion, social studies, as well as fiction. They build on the rich tradition that understands modern Hellenism as a residue of Hellenic civilization, left over from the diluting historical waves after the fall of Rome. Drawing on the insights of the French Geographical School and key ideas of Arnold Toynbee and Samuel Huntington, George Prevelakis elaborated the argument in his book “Who are we”.