Glass mosaic inlay

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Semi-opaque green ground, with backing in translucent deep purple appearing black; decoration in opaque white and yellow, and translucent deep purple appearing black. Rectangular, flat plaque with slightly convex back, slightly beveled edges, and rounded corners. Vertical strip with repetitive floral motif with yellow leaves and buds, outlined in purple, each issuing from a horizontal base in purple and white stripes. Broken and repaired with large cracks and small losses; upper side ground and polished; pitted surface bubbles, encrustation and iridescent weathering on edges. This part of a longer strip is decorated with a pattern of yellow-petalled lilies.

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