Terracotta stamnos (jar) with lid

Villa Giulia Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, youth arming; reverse, libation scene It is impossible to know whether the representations on this vase depict specific stories or whether the theme is the ceremony of a warrior's departure with the concomitant idea of achieving glory in battle. The obverse shows the warrior arming in the presence of a "king" with a wreath and a scepter while a woman holds the young man's shield and spear. The reverse includes a "king" and a woman—perhaps the same—with an oinochoe (jug) and a phiale (libation bowl)

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