Glass medallion with the bust of a woman or goddess

Glass medallion with the bust of a woman or goddess

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent deep purple, appearing opaque black. Oval, with deep relief on upper surface, and flat, smooth back. On a plain background, a female bust, facing front, with head turned slightly to left, wearing a diadem on her hair parted at center and with locks or veil headdress falling behind shoulders, and drapery on shoulders and across chest; narrow frame, comprising a banded scallop design, interspersed with small beads, forming eight roughened areas, each with a central six-pointed star. Broken with part of top of frame missing, and nose of woman also missing; dulling, small patches of brilliant iridescence, and faint brownish weathering on back. Despite its small size, this molded glass object has finely worked details, both on the central bust of a woman or goddess and on the ornate raised oval frame. It was presumably intended as a decorative appliqué for a piece of jewelry, possibly even a diadem or ritual headdress.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Glass medallion with the bust of a woman or goddessGlass medallion with the bust of a woman or goddessGlass medallion with the bust of a woman or goddessGlass medallion with the bust of a woman or goddessGlass medallion with the bust of a woman or goddess

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.