Miniature terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask) with siren

Miniature terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask) with siren

Seireniske Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In Greek mythology, sirens, human-headed birds known for their beautiful voices, were offen associated with the afterlife, and they appear frequently in Classical Greek funerary art. In addition to their mournful depictions on grave stelai, sirens were also an appropriate decoration for a lekythos, a type of vase often connected with death and burial ritual.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Miniature terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask) with sirenMiniature terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask) with sirenMiniature terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask) with sirenMiniature terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask) with sirenMiniature terracotta squat lekythos (oil flask) with siren

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.