Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Pagenstecher Class

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Judgment of Paris Among the rare black-figure works made in Southern Italy, lekythoi of this distinctive shape were produced in Paestum, Campania, and Sicily. The scene features Hermes, whose pose and articulation surely reflect a bronze sculpture. The fluent drawing and incision of the figures were heightened with details in white that has now worn off.

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