Marble statue of a young satyr turning to look at his tail

Marble statue of a young satyr turning to look at his tail

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Roman version of a Greek work of the 3rd century B.C. Statues of satyrs, relaxing, dancing, pursuing nymphs, or, as here, admiring themselves proliferated during the third century B.C., as the cult of Dionysus, god of wine and the pleasures it bestows, grew in importance. Such works were both copied and adapted by the Romans to decorate their villa gardens.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marble statue of a young satyr turning to look at his tailMarble statue of a young satyr turning to look at his tailMarble statue of a young satyr turning to look at his tailMarble statue of a young satyr turning to look at his tailMarble statue of a young satyr turning to look at his tail

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.