Bronze rod tripod

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze tripods and other vessel stands from Cyprus represent some of the finest metalwork produced in the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Some were cast in one piece; others, such as this one, were composed of pieces cast or worked separately and fastened together by means of hard-soldering. The decoration shows a blend of Mycenaean Greek and Near Eastern elements. The stands themselves have a wide distribution, having been found on Cyprus, Crete, and the Cyclades, as well as in mainland Greece, Sardinia, and Italy. Ancient repairs to this stand's rim are one indication that it was a valuable, treasured item that may have been passed from one generation to another.

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