Percy Gardner

Educated in London and at Cambridge, he became one of the leading British classical scholars of his generation. He worked at the British Museum before moving into university teaching, and is especially associated with his years as Lincoln and Merton Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at Oxford.

His scholarship ranged widely across Greek sculpture, vase painting, religion, and coinage, and he was known in particular for his work as a numismatist. Alongside academic studies, he wrote books that made the art and thought of ancient Greece more approachable for a wider public.

Remembered as an important interpreter of the classical world, he helped establish archaeology and the history of ancient art as serious fields of study in Britain. His long career linked museums, universities, and publishing, leaving a body of work that continued to guide students and readers well beyond his lifetime.