Bronze statuette of a young woman

Bronze statuette of a young woman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This statue, perhaps the best-known Etruscan figural bronze in the Museum's collection, was produced at one of the major bronze working centers, probably Vulci or Chiusi. The artist was clearly inspired by archaic Greek korai, votive statues of young women, a connection especially noticeable in the typical frontal pose with right hand extended and left hand holding the garment. However, the sculptor was not especially concerned about the accurate depiction of costume. The Greek himation (cloak), for example, is misrepresented. The folds so prominently visible from the front are absent on the back of the statue, perhaps an indication that the artist was looking at a two-dimensional source such as a relief sculpture or vase painting rather than a sculpture in the round. In any case, he clearly was more interested in rich surface embellishment than in realistic rendering of drapery and produced a wealth of engraved details in the hair, jewelry, sewn seams, decorated hems, and drapery folds. The pointed shoes (calcei repandi), here elaborately rendered with meticulously detailed laces and floral ornament, are distinctively Etruscan. The figure's left foot is a modern restoration.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze statuette of a young womanBronze statuette of a young womanBronze statuette of a young womanBronze statuette of a young womanBronze statuette of a young 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.