Plaster relief fragment with a male figure on a throne

Plaster relief fragment with a male figure on a throne

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cast from a Greek metal relief of the 4th century B.C. The plaster reliefs displayed in this case were cast from Late Classical and Hellenistic metal reliefs. They probably date to the Early Imperial period, when similar examples are known from Egypt, Rome, the Black Sea region, and Afghanistan. The widespread existence of these reliefs across the Roman Empire and along its trade routes reflects the interest that Roman collectors had for earlier Greek works.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plaster relief fragment with a male figure on a thronePlaster relief fragment with a male figure on a thronePlaster relief fragment with a male figure on a thronePlaster relief fragment with a male figure on a thronePlaster relief fragment with a male figure on a throne

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.