Terracotta oinochoe (jug)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Aphrodite and Erotes Plastic adjuncts had been part of the decoration of Attic vases from the Geometric period on.The execution of the decoration in applied, low relief was a short-lived phenomenon that lasted from the second half of the fourth into the third century B.C. The fragility of the relief accounts for the often poor condition of the objects. This one had extensive remains of gilding and blue color.

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