Bronze relief from a mirror

Bronze relief from a mirror

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Aphrodite seated on a rock with two Erotes and a swan Aphrodite's connection to the swan is not mentioned in literature, although the two often appear together in ancient art. Perhaps the most common mythological depiction of the swan is in association with Leda, the goddess who was seduced by Zeus in the guise of a swan.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze relief from a mirrorBronze relief from a mirrorBronze relief from a mirrorBronze relief from a mirrorBronze relief from a mirror

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.