Terrracotta oil lamp

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mold-made. Shallow, carinated body. Large central filling hole, surrounded by a plain, horizontal band. Sloping shoulder, decorated with a narrow band of ovules around discus and seventeen radiating, rounded lines in relief; two large matching knobs at sides, each with a swirl at front; two patterned bands flanking nozzle. Two small scrolls at back of nozzle; large palmette on back of long, tapering nozzle, ending with a large, round wick hole. Incised circle around broad, raised base ring, and small, concave base; a pair of two incised lines at front flanking underside of nozzle. Intact.

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