Terracotta oil lamp

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Loeschcke Type 1A. Mold-made. Discus, concave around side and flat across middle, with a single, central filing hole: concentric rings at middle and band of close-set, radiating lines around side, interrupted at front by a plain channel to back of nozzle; band of lines and grooves around edge, interrupted by channel. Volutes flanking angular nozzle. Ribs extending from volutes down body to either side of nozzle. Raised base ring; flat base inscribed: P·C F across center, with large X below. Intact, but some surface loss on side. Mottled dark brown slip.

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