Terracotta pelike (jar)

Argos Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, woman with mirror and wool basket Reverse, youth A major task of Athenian women was to weave. The wool basket at this lady's feet, her garments that are given prominence by her pose, as well as the mirror in which she is admiring herself suggest her proficiency. Weaving the peplos that was dedicated to Athena every four years was a major enterprise. We may imagine that a woman such as the one on the pelike was involved.

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