Terracotta oil lamp

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Broneer Type 27c. Mold-made, with ring handle. On discus, in high relief, bare-headed gladiator with large rectangular shield and short curved sword standing to right, facing left, over fallen opponent lying face down from left to right; in field to right, helmet; two filling holes above head and body of fallen gladiator. Horizontal shoulder, with inner band of two grooves flanking a raised line, and a pattern of close-set small ovules around its edge; two rectangular bands at sides. Incised base ring, and slightly concave base; base of handle and nozzle extend to base ring. Complete except for one hole in discus at bottom, and another small slit hole in left side of shoulder.

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