Terracotta Hadra hydria (water jar)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is a "dropped floor" hydria, so-called because the floor of the vessel is extended down into its tall foot increasing the overall capacity. The ovoid body and sharply offset shoulder and neck are also characteristic of this shape. The silhouette style, which was commonly used on these hydriae, is shown off to good effect in the well preserved floral and geometric patterns that decorate this vase.

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