Fragment of a terracotta loutrophoros (ceremonial vase for water)

Painter of Bologna 228

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, old man and warrior Reverse, two warriors The fragment is the neck of a loutrophoros, marble examples of which are exhibited in the fourth-century B.C. sculpture gallery. The tall slender shape emphasizes the statuesque quality of the figures. It is noteworthy that the figures seem to represent three generations, from the old man on the obverse to the youth on the reverse.

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