Head of Hercules with the lion's skin and bust of Omphale

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gems carved on the back as well as the front became a specialty of sixteenth-century masters. Omphale, legendary queen of Lydia, was a mistress of Hercules. The zigzag of white that emerged in both sides of the grayish brown morsel of agate forcefully highlights both his lion skin and her veil.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art