Marble statue of Aphrodite loosening her sandal

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Variant of a Greek work of the 3rd or 2nd century B.C. Aphrodite was represented bending down to remove the sandal from her raised left foot. Her outstretched left arm probably held a small figure of Eros, who reached over to her breast. Many versions of this small-scale statue type exist. It was probably a popular votive offering in the Hellenistic period, and it was widely used as decoration in Roman villas.

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