Cameo glass medallion of the emperor Augustus

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Matt cobalt blue, deep blue, almost opaque and appearing black, and opaque white. Oval with slightly beveled, ground edge, flat back. Decoration in high relief: bust of male shown frontally, with broad forehead, prominent ears, and clean-shaven features; on head, laurel wreath and chlamys that covers top of head and falls on either side of neck behind ears; below throat, toga hanging in folds. Complete, but damaged with loss of nose and proper right side of bust; dulling and pitting, with small patches of faint creamy weathering. The Emperor Augustus is shown with his head veiled as was the custom when about to perform a sacrifice.

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