Terracotta oinochoe (jug)

Mannheim Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three Amazons The Amazons on this splendid oinochoe are all named. Iole leads; she is equipped with a pelta (crescent-shaped shield), a bow and quiver, and a battle-ax. Antiope, facing forward, leads a horse and holds two spears. Penthesilea follows with a pelta, a bow and quiver, and spears. Antiope and Penthesilea were well known for their part in the lives of Theseus and Achilles, respectively. Throughout Greek art, in depictions of combat between Greeks and their enemies, the latter are always rendered as worthy antagonists. This perception applies particularly to Amazons.

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