Glass beaker

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent blue green. Plain, knocked-off rim, with slight bulging collar beneath; straight sides to body, expanding downwards, then curving in to solid, low base; flat bottom, with central hollow kick, forming projecting knob on interior. Decoration of well-executed horizontal lines, comprising a single fine line below collar, a broad and deep groove on upper body, and a band of two fine lines on lower body. Intact, but numerous internal cracks, especially in base; some pinprick and larger bubbles, and a few glassy inclusions; very little weathering, with one patch of dulling, pitting, and brownish weathering on interior.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art