Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, Herakles and the Nemean lion Reverse, women at a fountain house Although the activities of Athenian women took place primarily within the house, fetching water was an exception. It is noteworthy that the subject is popular on vases of the second half of the sixth century. The implication is that this task was not considered menial. Furthermore, while there were a variety of genre scenes showing men—preparing for battle, participating in symposia, etc.--this is one of the few specific to women.

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