Limestone finial of a funerary stele with a seated lion

Limestone finial of a funerary stele with a seated lion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The head is turned toward the viewer, the mouth wide open, the tongue extended, the teeth carefully shown. The body is thin, the ribs protrude; traces of the tail are visible on the side. The upper right front leg is clearly articulated. The smooth mane spreads over the top of the back and on to the chest, but is not shown on the back.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Limestone finial of a funerary stele with a seated lionLimestone finial of a funerary stele with a seated lionLimestone finial of a funerary stele with a seated lionLimestone finial of a funerary stele with a seated lionLimestone finial of a funerary stele with a seated lion

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.