Marble and bronze table

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rooms in Roman houses were largely devoid of furniture, and instead, much more emphasis was given to the display of works of art--mosaic floors, wall paintings, and freestanding bronze and marble sculpture. This unusual table with its elaborate bronze and marble support would certainly have been appropriate in such a context. It was probably used in the public part of a wealthy Roman’s villa or town house, such as the atrium (entrance hall), to exhibit a particularly fine work of art or a set of expensive metal or glass vessels. The bronze frame to the marble tabletop is richly decorated with silver and copper inlay, but as it stands today, much of the leg and base is restored.

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