Terracotta lagynos (oil flask)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The late Hellenistic date of this lagynos is suggested by its shape, characterized by a long neck and wide base, which evolved from an earlier type of flask with a narrow neck and oval body . By contrast, the decorative scheme of this vessel cannot be used as an accurate criterion for dating, since it is merely a continuation of the "painted white ware" technique used on cypriot pottery since the eighth century.

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