Terracotta amphora (jar)

Antimenes Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, Athena and Herakles in chariot with gods Reverse, Dionysos, Artemis, Apollo, Leto, Hermes The equilibrium achieved in late black-figure amphorae is well represented by this work. There is a balance between light and dark in the areas of glaze and reserve as well as within the panels. The ivy and lotus-palmette ornaments embellish the upper part of the vase, while the zone of rays emphasizes the bottom of the body. The stateliness in the representation is most appropriate to the subject of Herakles' introduction into Mount Olympos.

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