Terracotta statuette of a woman

Terracotta statuette of a woman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Standing draped women represent one of the most common types of terracotta figure from the fourth through second century B.C. throughout the Greek world. Recent studies have suggested that they are not simply ladies of fashion but that their meaning has to do with marriage. The variant with one arm akimbo may have a specific social connotation.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta statuette of a womanTerracotta statuette of a womanTerracotta statuette of a womanTerracotta statuette of a womanTerracotta statuette of a woman

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.