Terracotta oil lamp

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Loeschcke Type 1A. Mold-made. Discus: gladiatorial (?) equipment comprising at top and bottom two large oval shields each with a central rib; to either side of filling hole, two helmets with cheek pieces, flanked by two straight swords pointing upward, each with a strap above hilt; a single, central filling hole; band of lines and deep grooves around edge. Volutes flanking angular nozzle with large wick hole. Base ring, and deep concave bottom. Intact, but some chipping of surfaces.

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