Limestone statue of the goddess Artemis

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Artemis, the Greek goddess responsible for the nurture of wild animals as well as the hunt, was sister of Apollo, and a number of statues representing her have been found at the sanctuary of Apollo at Pyla. Her cult was probably introduced on Cyprus during the fifth century B.C., and, like the Greek goddess Aphrodite, she became assimilated with the Great Goddess of fertility who had been worshiped on the island for centuries. Artemis carries a quiver and is accompanied by a fawn.

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