Bronze mirror

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Zipunu flanked by Prucnas and Thalna Etruscan inscriptions identify the rather obscure characters depicted here. At the center is Zipunu, a lesser Etruscan goddess often associated with Turan (Latin: Venus). She is flanked by the obscure Etruscan heroes Prucnas and Thalna. The engraver paid meticulous attention to details of the eyes, hair, fingernails, footwear, jewelry, and musculature. The figures are set off against an unusual stippled background.

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