Terracotta alabastron (perfume vase)

Painter of Palermo 1162

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Woman and Nike at altar, each with phiale. Offering libations seems to have been an important role for women. Here a Nike (personification of victory), who looks very much like an Athenian lady with wings, and a mortal counterpart flank an altar. Each holds a phiale (libation bowl). It is likely that the sacrifice is for the successful return of a warrior or athlete.

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