Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Brygos Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Goddess, probably Hera The figure is identifiable as a goddess by the scepter in her left hand. Traces of an A from an inscription suggest that she is Hera. She holds a phiale, which indicates a context involving a libation. The goddess is richly dressed in a combination of garments that ripple over her body in heavier and finer folds. The floral ornament on the shoulder is disposed so as to complement the treatment of the figure.

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