Terracotta head of a man

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Cesnola Collection is fortunate to have two fine early heads that belonged to full-length figures. Large-scale terracotta sculpture began to be made on Cyprus during the mid-seventh century B.C. Molds were used for the heads, while the bodies were handmade. This bearded head wears the helmetlike headgear that appears on the nearby limestone sculptures. Details are articulated with considerable care, and remaining pigment suggests the liveliness of the figures' original appearance.

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