The influence of Greek portraiture has endured through the ages, defining practices from Ancient Rome to the Renaissance, and up until the present day. But Greek portraiture was not photo-realist in that it was true to life; rather, it depicted subjects as cultural types—and these types were based on social status, age, and group affiliations. The Altes exhibition explores the tensions inherent in Greek portraiture: the social ideal of a type versus the singular truth of a human face. —E.C.