Glass finger ring

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Colorless with pale blue green tinge. Broad hoop with D-shaped cross section with beveled edges, broadening into large oval bezel, concave on upper surface, with raised rim sloping outwards. The bezel would have been decorated with an inlay, probably also in glass, imitating a gem. Intact but slight chips on rim of bezel and inlay missing; pitting, patches of thick creamy weathering, and brilliant iridescence. The piece is similar to another large Hellenistic ring displayed here (91.1.1518). The surface of the glass is now covered with brilliant iridescent weathering.

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