Terracotta jar with nautiluses

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three nautiluses, a type of marine mollusk, float among the rocks and plants of the sea floor on this large storage jar. The decoration reflects the importance of the sea for the Mycenaeans, whose goods circulated throughout the Mediterranean world. Transport vessels like this one have been discovered from Spain to the Levant, indicating the presence of an extensive trade network, but their contents—including oil, wine, and other perishable commodities—were probably the main items of exchange.

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