Terracotta oil lamp

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mold-made, with applied loop handle and a long nozzle, ending in a triangular spout around the large wick hole. On discus: central, large filling hole, surrounded by three evenly-spaced smaller holes; around discus, broad collar, flaring upward. On shoulder at sides and under handle, a series of raised oblongs or diamonds, each decorated within with similar smaller shapes, interspersed with small, raised dots. On nozzle, a spiral on each side and a long fluted object (a vase?) on the top. Raised base ring and flat base.

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