Gold necklace with pendants of amphora and beads

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Classical jewelry enjoyed great popularity in modern times and inspired the production of pieces that ranged from the obviously derivative to the frankly deceptive. Goldsmiths from the Castellanis in Italy to Tiffany in America created "archaeological jewelry" for a receptive clientel. The execution was often of fine quality, as this example illustrates. The urn-shaped pendants and granulation recalls early work by Carlo Giuliano (ca. 1831-1895).

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