Marble statue of Dionysos seated on a panther

Marble statue of Dionysos seated on a panther

François Duquesnoy

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Latin inscription translates as: Philetus, a freedman of the Augusti, willingly fulfilled his dedication to the Invincible God Serapis and Queen Isis (of this) small altar with (its) base and two statuettes for his own safety and that of Aurelia Quintiliana. The reference to two emperors, as indicated by the abbreviation AVGG, suggests a date in the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, AD 161–69.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marble statue of Dionysos seated on a pantherMarble statue of Dionysos seated on a pantherMarble statue of Dionysos seated on a pantherMarble statue of Dionysos seated on a pantherMarble statue of Dionysos seated on a panther

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.