Marble head of Herakles

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Copy of a Greek statue of the second half of the 4th century B.C. attributed to Lysippos. In the statue, the Greek hero Herakles was shown close to exhaustion on completion of the twelve labors set him by Eurystheus, ruler of the Argolid. The contrast between his powerful physique and his weary stance is echoed in this particularly fine rendition of his noble head, which is bowed with fatigue. The statue was copied in many different sizes during the Roman period.

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