Gold ring

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This large gold ring is one of 43 objects in the museum's collection from a single tomb discovered near Bolsena, north of Rome. While the ring no longer has the gem that once filled its sizeable ovoid bezel, it is inscribed on either side with the Etruscan word SUTHINA, indicating that this object was dedicated as a tomb offering. The words were not etched into the ring but rather were formed by a series of small, discrete punched dots. This item of jewelry, along with a number of the other objects in the tomb, probably belonged to the deceased in life and was then marked accordingly upon his or her death.

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