Limestone priest

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The base and feet are modern; the bird is heavily restored and probably does not belong to he sculpture. The tresses on the shoulders, draping of the garments, and slight smile indicate the progressive influence of eastern Greek sculpture on that of Cyprus during he sixth century B.C. he figure's headgear, however, demonstrates the persistence of indigenous traditions. Indeed, here it is particularly remarkable, with the vertical zones of lotus motifs and the head of a bull at the top. Traces of pigment indicate that the figure was once painted. On his left shoulder are remains of a Cypriot syllabic inscription that have been read as "of the Paphian Goddess." The figure is certainly a priest of a long-lived fertility goddess who became associated with the Greek Aphrodite.

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