Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Woman Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Youth seated at tomb between youth and woman The youth in the center, undoubtedly the deceased, is seated on the steps of his tomb. The shaft behind him is crowned by remarkably succulent akanthos leaves. The woman at the right carries a basket containing two lekythoi and an alabastron (perfume vase). The central figure fits into the composition rather awkwardly, but the intent is clearly to provide an image of the departed being mourned by those around him.


Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

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.