Terracotta canopic urn

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Long after inhumation became widespread, the people of Chiusi and surrounding hamlets continued to cremate their dead. They deposited the ashes in anthropomorphizing urns, often equipped with articulated arms, jewelry, wigs, and even clothing. The lids of these urns represent a stylized portrait of the deceased. Earlier examples, especially those for warriors, were often topped with a bronze or clay helmet.

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