Silver strigil (scraper)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Strigils were used to scrape accumulated oil, dirt, and sweat gently from the body. In Greek and Roman society, they were exclusively used by men; both sexes are shown using them in Etruscan culture. A retrograde monogram reads DA:MV (Ra… : Mu...) and probably refers to the owner, whose name might have been Ramtha Murcnas or Murinas. Ramtha was a common woman's name, and both family names are attested in the Bolsena region.

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