Bronze cista (toiletries box)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is the largest and finest of the Museum's engraved cistae. The cylindrical body is decorated with three friezes, an unusual treatment. On the major frieze is a series of episodes from the Trojan War told in Homer's Iliad, including what seems to be the sacrifice of the Trojan prisoners. The minor friezes, above and below, depict battle scenes and chariot races but also include unrelated subjects, for example griffins attacking a horse. The chariot race continues on the solid-cast lion-paw feet. The poorly preserved engravings on the lid probably depict winged nereids riding on dolphins and sea monsters while carrying the armor of Achilles, the major Greek hero of the Trojan War. The handle, one of the finest of this type, shows two nude winged genii carrying the body of a dead soldier. The treatment of wing feathers and hair is especially delicate.

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