Terracotta oinochoe (jug)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Wreathed figure riding mule The primary figure is the wreathed and long-tressed youth seated on a high-backed traveling throne. Gesturing casually, he seems to be in communication with the youth in front of him who has a wreath and scepter. The protagonist is difficult to identify. His comfortable seat and the disparity between his feet suggest that he is Hephaistos. However, his youth, wreath, and flowing hair are more appropriate to Dionysos. Another possibility is that these are two youths acting out the Return of Hephaistos.

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