Marble statue of Herakles seated on a rock

Marble statue of Herakles seated on a rock

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Adaptation of a Greek statue of the late 4th or early 3rd century B.C. The great hero was shown resting on a rock with his legs stretched out in front of him, his club braced under his left armpit. The exceptionally fine and realistic rendering of the lean, muscled body and the powerful curve of the back bring to mind the works of Lysippos, a famous sculptor of the late fourth century B.C.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marble statue of Herakles seated on a rockMarble statue of Herakles seated on a rockMarble statue of Herakles seated on a rockMarble statue of Herakles seated on a rockMarble statue of Herakles seated on a rock

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.