Chlorite miniature bathtub

Chlorite miniature bathtub

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The bathtub was introduced to Cyprus at the beginning of the twelfth century B.C. with the arrival of the first Aegean settlers. Several real bathtubs of clay and limestone have been found in tombs, where they were used for purification purposes. Miniature bathtubs may have served as substitutes.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Chlorite miniature bathtubChlorite miniature bathtubChlorite miniature bathtubChlorite miniature bathtubChlorite miniature bathtub

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.