Terracotta statue of Eros holding a swan

Terracotta statue of Eros holding a swan

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The figurine is mold-made and hollow. The back is handmade and flattened. There is an oval vent at the back at the level of the abdomen. The wings are mostly missing; the lower edge is chipped. Eros sits on a rocky base.


Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta statue of Eros holding a swanTerracotta statue of Eros holding a swanTerracotta statue of Eros holding a swanTerracotta statue of Eros holding a swanTerracotta statue of Eros holding a swan

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.