Limestone statuette of a temple boy

Limestone statuette of a temple boy

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The boy sits on a slanted plinth, his left leg bent against the body, the right bent up in three-quarter profile and the foot flat on the plinth. The body, in a relaxed position, is totally nude, chubby, the genitalia large; the penis is missing. The left hand rests on a turtle. The broken right hand probably held a bird; there are remains of a tail. A bracelet circles the left wrist and a chain of amulets hangs from the right shoulder. The pendants are summarily rendered. The head is turned three-quarters to its right. The face is smiling and the eyes are slightly open. The nose is broken. The head is covered with wavy locks. The back is not worked.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Limestone statuette of a temple boyLimestone statuette of a temple boyLimestone statuette of a temple boyLimestone statuette of a temple boyLimestone statuette of a temple boy

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.