Marble grave stele of Antigenes

Marble grave stele of Antigenes

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Attic grave monuments of the end of the sixth century B.C. tend to be simpler than their earlier counterparts. In particular, the sculpted finials in the form of sphinxes are replaced by palmettes that are integral with the shaft. The figures, moreover, may be painted instead of carved in relief. It is enlightening to compare a representation such as this with contemporary vase-painting. The light figure against a darker background is comparable to the red-figure technique in pottery. Indeed, the influence of painted sculpture has been adduced in precipitating the change from black-figure to red-figure.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marble grave stele of AntigenesMarble grave stele of AntigenesMarble grave stele of AntigenesMarble grave stele of AntigenesMarble grave stele of Antigenes

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.