Limestone statue of a bearded man with votive offerings

Limestone statue of a bearded man with votive offerings

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

After the absorption of Cyprus into the Persian Empire in 526/5 B.C. contacts increased with the wealthy East Greek cities on the western coast of Asia Minor, which had also fallen under Persian rule. The influence of Greek sculptural style can by seen in this statue of a man dedicated in a temple at Golgoi. He wears typical East Greek dress, a finely pleated linen chiton, and a woolen himation (cloak), and stands with left foot advanced in a pose that gives a subtle sense of movement. His smile and the jewel-like precision with which his hair and beard are carved remind one of Greek Archaic art of the sixth century B.C., but the style appears stiff and somewhat artificial in this statue, which was carved in the second quarter of the fifth century. Like many Cypriot votive statues this figure wears a wreath of leaves and flowers. It is composed of oak leaves and stylized narcissus flowers, which must have evoked ideas of fertility and regeneration. The man holds gifts for the deity—a dove in his left hand and a cylindrical object, which probably represented a container of incense, in his right hand.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Limestone statue of a bearded man with votive offeringsLimestone statue of a bearded man with votive offeringsLimestone statue of a bearded man with votive offeringsLimestone statue of a bearded man with votive offeringsLimestone statue of a bearded man with votive offerings

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.