Terracotta amphora (jar)

The Horse-Head Amphorae

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse and reverse, head of a horse The so-called Horse-Head amphorae were produced during the first half of the sixth century B.C., especially the early part. With few exceptions, the subject of the front and back is a horse's head and neck. While the precise significance is unclear, the reference is clearly to the horse as a symbol of status and wealth. The vases vary in size and were widely exported in antiquity, to Italy, the eastern Mediterranean, and Egypt. Their function would have varied as well. Because of its size and the signs of wear, this example may have stood on a grave.

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