Glass cameo plaque fragment

Glass cameo plaque fragment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent deep purple with opaque white overlay. Flat underside; slightly undulating surface with relief decoration; small section of left edge with rounded upper lip. In relief in white, head of figure turned to left, with long wavy hair concealing proper left ear, wearing tunic in broad bands over shoulders; behind proper left shoulder part of unidentified object; to left of figure, part of a long staff. Broken on three sides with weathered edges; many internal strain cracks; dulling, slight pitting, patches of thick black weathering and brilliant iridescence. The bust, previously described as that of a clean-shaven man, may represent a woman or goddess. If the object behind her left shoulder is a bow or quiver, the figure could even be identified as Artemis (Diana).

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.