Marble statue of a woman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The lively, varied manner in which the texture of the clothing is rendered suggests that this is a Greek original rather than a Roman copy. The crinkly linen of the chiton and the heavier wool of the himation (cloak) are carefully differentiated, and horizontal press folds add variety to the latter's surface. The drilled holes on the sleeves once held metal buttons. The upper part of the chiton is kept firmly in place by a cord that is crossed in back and slipped over the arms. This over-life size figure probably represents a goddess, and in the absence of other attributes, the shoulder cord may offer a clue to her identity. Although the huntress Artemis is often shown with such a cord, this more matronly figure may represent Themis, a goddess associated with custom and law. The head and neck were carved separately and provided with a rounded tenon that was set into the cavity at the top of the torso.

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