Terracotta kylix (drinking cup)

Euaion Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Interior, post, athlete with halteres (jumping weights) and trainer Exterior, obverse and reverse, athletes and trainer The representations here beautifully convey two fundamental aspects of athletic training, expressed in the Latin saying "mens sana in corpore sano" ( a healthy mind in a sound body). The interior depicts the mastery of a specific sport, in this case the long jump, and the discipline of the body. The exterior shows the easy, serious interchange among young men and their older mentors. The javelins and the strigil establish an athletic setting.

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