Terracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finial

Terracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finial

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This elaborate vase belongs to a small class of vessels from Centuripe, a small town in eastern Sicily, where they were apparently made. Characteristically, sumptuous, gilt, high-relief decoration, imitating fine metalwork, is combined with bright tempera paintings. The front and sides of the lid depict a complex scene with several female figures around an altar. One figure holds a tambourine. In the handle-zone, a Medusa head is flanked by Erotes amidst a floral scroll. The finial and base are decorated with shafts of wheat and leaves.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finialTerracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finialTerracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finialTerracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finialTerracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finial

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.