Matthias Steinhart (born 17 April 1966 in Freiburg im Breisgau) is a German Classical archaeologist.
After attending the humanistic Scheffel-Gymnasium in Lahr, Matthias Steinhart studied classical archaeology, Greek philology, and ancient history at Bonn University and Würzburg University from 1985 to 1994 (from 1998 with a scholarship from the Studienstiftung). In 1990 he received his masters and in 1994 he achieved a doctorate with the dissertation "Das Motiv des Auges in der griechischen Bildkunst" (The Motif of the Eye in Greek Art," supervised by Erika Simon.
From the middle of 1998 until the middle of 2000, Steinhart was employed by the Freiburg University ancient history department on Hans-Joachim Gehrke and Eckhard Wirbelauer's research project "Antiken von Ithaka – ein imaginäres Museum" (Antiquities of Ithaca: an imaginary museum). After this he was employed by the same institution for two more years, as a member of sub-project B 1 "Römisch-imperiale und regionale Identitäten und ihr Wechselspiel im östlichen Imperium Romanum" (Roman Imperial and Regional Identities and their Interaction in the Eastern Roman Empire), part of special research area 541 "Identitäten und Alteritäten. Die Funktion von Alterität für die Konstitution und Konstruktion von Identität" (Identities and Otherings. The Function of Othering for the Constitution and Construction of Identity). Steinhart investigated Pausanias and the cultural identity of Greece in Roman times. During this period, he completed his habilitation in 2001 at Freiburg University. From 2002 to 2005, Steinhart was a research assistant, from 2005 to 2006 was a member of the academic council, and since 2006, has been a Privatdozent at the Archaeological Institute of Freiburg University.
Since 1 January 2008, Steinhart has been conservator at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen and Glyptothek in Munich. On 26 August 2008 he received his Umhabilitation from Munich University. Since 1 December 2011, he has held the chair of Classical Archaeology at Würzburg University. In addition, he is in charge of the antiquities collection of the university's Martin von Wagner Museum. In 2014, he was made a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.