Terracotta Nolan amphora (jar)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, warriors fighting Persian archer Reverse, warrior The almost miraculous Greek victory in 480 B.C. over the invading Persians, who were backed by the resources of a powerful empire, was the theme of much art produced in Greece during the first half of the fifth century B.C. Most images cast the battle in mythological terms; this is one of the few that show a Greek actually fighting a Persian.

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