Aphrodite: The Making of a Goddess
The Ashmolean’s autumn exhibition follows the goddess of love from a Bronze Age cult on Cyprus to Botticelli and beyond. It runs from 8 October 2026 to 11 April 2027.
Photo: Julian Herzog (Website), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This autumn the Ashmolean gives its main exhibition galleries to a single goddess. Aphrodite: The Making of a Goddess opens on 8 October 2026 in The John Sainsbury Exhibition Galleries and runs until 11 April 2027. It is the museum’s major exhibition of the season, and the one most worth planning a trip to Oxford around.
The idea is simple and large. Today Aphrodite stands for love and beauty, but the museum shows that her story is much older and stranger. She begins on Cyprus, where she was worshipped as an all-powerful goddess more than 3,000 years ago, passes into the Greek and then the Roman world as Venus, and returns in the Renaissance, in Botticelli’s work, and again in the art of the last century.
At a glance
| Dates | 8 October 2026 to 11 April 2027 |
| Where | The John Sainsbury Exhibition Galleries, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH |
| Tickets | Standard £16.80, or £19.00 with Gift Aid |
| Free entry | Ashmolean Members, under 12s, carers, University of Oxford students and some other groups |
| Museum hours | 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.45pm |
| Official information | Ashmolean Museum exhibition page |
What is in the exhibition
The Ashmolean describes objects spanning 1400 BCE to the 21st century: sculpture, bronzes, gems and terracottas from Cyprus, Greece and Italy. Among the loans the museum names are the "Lely Venus", a Roman marble Crouching Aphrodite from the Royal Collection, several works from the Louvre, early objects rarely shown outside Cyprus, and Yves Klein’s Blue Venus.
That range is the point. The same figure appears as a cult image, a Roman garden statue and a twentieth-century work in Yves Klein’s blue, and the exhibition asks visitors to watch one idea of love and beauty being made and remade over two millennia.
Tickets and free entry
A standard ticket costs £16.80, or £19.00 with Gift Aid, and booking is strongly recommended. Entry is free, with booking recommended, for Ashmolean Members and Patrons, under 12s, carers, University of Oxford students and several other groups listed by the museum. Half-price tickets at £8.40 are available on site, not online, for Art Fund members, 12 to 17-year-olds, under 25s and people receiving Universal Credit. Ashmolean Members also have a preview day on 7 October 2026.
The rest of the museum stays free, with no booking needed for general admission.
Making a day of it
The Ashmolean is running a Love & Legacy season of events alongside the exhibition through the autumn and winter. Its one-hour guided highlights tours run every Friday and Saturday from 2pm to 3pm and cost £15.
Other displays open during the exhibition include Colonial Views of India (until 13 December 2026), Sisters, Brothers, Others: Nationality and Modern Chinese Art (until March 2027) and Garry Fabian Miller: Between the Moon and the Hawthorn, which opens in November 2026. Four Western Art galleries on the Level 3 mezzanine, including the Pre-Raphaelites, are closed for work until mid-October.
For more on the museum’s permanent collection, see our guide to Oxford’s museums and galleries.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Aphrodite exhibition at the Ashmolean?
From 8 October 2026 to 11 April 2027, in The John Sainsbury Exhibition Galleries.
How much are tickets?
£16.80 standard, or £19.00 with Gift Aid. Under 12s, carers, University of Oxford students and Ashmolean Members go free, and half-price tickets are available on site for some groups.
Do I need to book?
The museum strongly recommends booking for the exhibition. General admission to the rest of the Ashmolean is free and needs no booking.
What are the museum’s opening hours?
10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4.45pm.
Tickets and visiting information at the Ashmolean
Sources
- ashmolean.org, Aphrodite: The Making of a Goddess, dates and ticket prices
- ashmolean.org, the 2026 exhibition programme
- ashmolean.org, plan your visit: opening hours and admission
- ashmolean.org, events, tours and the Love & Legacy season
This is an independent guide compiled by the Oxford Society for its members. We are not affiliated with, nor the organiser of, this event. Booking and official information live on the organiser's website, linked above. Dates and programmes can change, so always confirm on the official site before making plans.
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