Glass and gold inlay

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent cobalt blue over opaque white, with opaque red, yellow, and pale green inlay. Rectangular plaque with irregular edges extending beyond frame to the upper surface. On upper surface, a rooster at center facing right and four small leaf-like motifs, one at each corner; rooster outlined in gold wire and inlaid with small pieces of red and yellow glass; corner motifs outlined in gold wire and inlaid with green glass. Intact, but inlay missing in two of the corner motifs; dulling, pitting, and faint 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