Terracotta phiale (libation bowl)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This distinctive type of phiale with twelve egg-shaped cavities and relief decoration on the rim derives from metal prototypes introduced to Greece from the East during the Archaic period. The Hellenistic form is attested in very rare examples of silver. The numerous terracotta counterparts that survive are connected especially with Tarentum. Heads of orientals alternate with scrollwork around the outer edge.

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