Glass double-headed pendant

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent cobalt blue. Oval disk, with flat flange at bottom. Vertical mold seams visible at sides. Vertical hole driven into disk from below. On each face of disk, female head in relief facing front, one larger than the other, with ears visible in front of locks falling to side of face, and hair drawn back from forehead, possibly in the form of snakes. Chipped around sides and suspension loop at top missing; dulling, weathering, and small patches of brilliant iridescence.

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