Terracotta alabastron (perfume vase) in the form of a woman holding a dove

Terracotta alabastron (perfume vase) in the form of a woman holding a dove

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Small figural vases found great favor in the East Greek world, but the number and location of the centers of production remain to be identified. The island of Rhodes seems to have been important. The iconography of figural vases has its own traditions. It also has points of contact with that of other media, notably stone sculpture. The type of young woman holding a bird or other small offering is characteristic of East Greek statuary beginning in the early sixth century B.C. The use of clay allowed the representation to be double-sided.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta alabastron (perfume vase) in the form of a woman holding a doveTerracotta alabastron (perfume vase) in the form of a woman holding a doveTerracotta alabastron (perfume vase) in the form of a woman holding a doveTerracotta alabastron (perfume vase) in the form of a woman holding a doveTerracotta alabastron (perfume vase) in the form of a woman holding a dove

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.