Glass mosaic inlay fragments

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Opaque white ground; decoration in opaque red, yellow, and grey green, and deep purple appearing black. Two non-joining, thin rectangular strips; flat upper and lower surfaces, and vertical edges with sharp corners; design extends uniformly through the thickness of the plaque. Row of alternating palmettes and lotus flowers, each with volutes below. On one strip with proper left edge, four palmettes and three complete and one partial lotus flower; on the other with proper right edge, three lotus flowers and three complete and one partial palmette. Both strips broken at one end, one broken and repaired; upper surface ground and polished; pitting of surface bubbles, dulling and weathering on back.

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