Terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask)

Terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask)

Painter of Munich 2363

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Amazons The subject is unclear. Indistinct lines indicating the terrain show that the archer is lying on the ground, either asleep or dead. The other figure seems to be coming to rouse her. The open eye on the shield identifies the critical element in the situation—will the fallen figure open her eyes or not?


Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask)Terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask)Terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask)Terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask)Terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask)

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.