Terracotta fragment from the rim of a vase

Terracotta fragment from the rim of a vase

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

According to myth, Zeus fell in love with Europa, the daughter of a Phoenician king, and disguised himself as a bull to carry her across the sea to Crete on his back. On Crete, Zeus made love to Europa, producing two or three children, including the legendary king of Crete, Minos. Many depictions of the myth of Europa and the bull occur in Roman times, particularly on red-glaze, sigiliata pottery such as this piece.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta fragment from the rim of a vaseTerracotta fragment from the rim of a vaseTerracotta fragment from the rim of a vaseTerracotta fragment from the rim of a vaseTerracotta fragment from the rim of a vase

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.