Limestone cippus base

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A cippus is a large stone marker used by the Etruscans to establish a boundary or, more commonly, to mark the location of a tomb. The Etruscans produced several types of cippi. This example, the only one in the Museum's collection, is a cubic block that originally would have supported a large spherical, onion-shaped, or pointed stone. Each side of the block is carved with an identical scene showing symmetrically disposed horsemen. These almost certainly represent the twin gods, Castur and Pultuce (Roman: Castor and Pollux), among the most popular deities worshiped by the Etruscans. This type of cippus is closely associated with Chiusi, an important city in Central Italy.

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