Terracotta Hadra hydria (water jar)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The distinctive coarse red clay of this and other white-ground Hadra hydriae indicates that such vessels were made in Egypt, perhaps Alexandria since the same clay was used to make a specific type of terracotta figurine known to have been produced in this region. Although the polychrome decoration of pink and blue ribbons has now mostly faded, the original plaster seal across the mouth is intact, serving as a poignant reminder of the funerary use of this hydria.

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