Terracotta calyx-krater (mixing bowl)

Amykos Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, four warriors fighting Reverse, four youths This vase well illustrates the complex interrelation between Greek art and artists in Southern Italy and the indigenous populations. In its shape and ornament, the krater has not evolved far beyond its Athenian models. The combat, by contrast, shows warriors with their native helmets in poses that emphasize individual movement rather than compositional rigor.

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