Terracotta kylix (drinking cup)

Group of the Phineus Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse and reverse, between eyes, nose; at handles, ears While certainly influenced by Attic models, Chalcidian eye-cups have a distinct elegance produced by their normally fine potting and and precise decoration. The small, concave foot that is often reserved rather than glazed also gives these works a light appearance. While noses do occur between eyes on Attic eye-cups, the inclusion of ears is a Chalcidian feature. The noses and ears evoke satyrs and associate the decoration, sparse though it is, with the world of Dionysos.

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