Glass bead

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ground in semi-opaque dark blue, appearing black; additions in opaque yellow and white. Spherical with large vertical hole with rounded edges. Three horizontal trails, two in yellow flanking one in white, around center of bead; at one end, row of eight marvered dots, five in yellow, three in white; at other end, nine broad stripes, five in yellow, four in white. Intact; dulling and creamy iridescent weathering Black opaque bead with yellow and white bands and spots.

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