Terracotta oinochoe (jug)

Terracotta oinochoe (jug)

Painter of Louvre CA 1694

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Two satyrs The significant element in the interchange between the two satyrs is the skyphos (deep drinking cup) held by one of them. It may be full of wine. It may also be empty and about to be used as a chamber pot. Although Greek vases were designed to fulfill a specific purpose, they lent themselves to any number of other uses.


Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.