Bronze diskos thrower

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This superlative bronze embodies the highest achievements of the early classical period. The athlete is about to swing the diskos forward and over his head with his left hand, then transfer it to his right hand, and release it with the force of the accumulated momentum. The beauty of the statuette lies in the calm and concentrated physiognomy that forms part of a perfectly developed and disciplined body.

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