Terracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lid

Terracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lid

Group of the Würzburg Scylla

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The hippocamp, a fantastic monster with a horse's body and a fish's tail, was fairly uncommon in Classical Greek art. He plays no part in any extant mythological tale but in art is sometimes ridden by the wise sea god Nereus or sea nymphs. Characteristically, the body of the creature on this vase is without scales and has an erect, crescent tail and spiky fins.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lidTerracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lidTerracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lidTerracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lidTerracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lid

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.