Fragmentary limestone relief with a snake and dolphin

Fragmentary limestone relief with a snake and dolphin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An inscription, running from left to right, is preserved in front of the snake's head.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fragmentary limestone relief with a snake and dolphinFragmentary limestone relief with a snake and dolphinFragmentary limestone relief with a snake and dolphinFragmentary limestone relief with a snake and dolphinFragmentary limestone relief with a snake and dolphin

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.