Fragment from the neck of a terracotta amphora

Fragment from the neck of a terracotta amphora

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panel with two figures and the arms of a third; panel with one figure The representation(s) here most probably illustrate a narrative subject. A key to the interpretation lies in the identity of the horizontal shafts held by the figures in both panels. The figure on the right appears to be holding a spear, and he wears a belted garment of diamond shapes alternately reserved and glazed. At the left end of the fragment are the arms of an individual who holds a cup. Susan Langdon has raised the possibility that this is a very early depiction of the blinding of Polyphemos by Odysseus.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fragment from the neck of a terracotta amphoraFragment from the neck of a terracotta amphoraFragment from the neck of a terracotta amphoraFragment from the neck of a terracotta amphoraFragment from the neck of a terracotta amphora

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.