Terracotta hydria (water jar)

Painter of London B 76

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On the shoulder, Achilles waiting to ambush Troilos and Polyxena The ambush depicted with verve and eloquence is one of the crucial episodes of the Trojan War. Troilos and Polyxena were children of Priam, the king of Troy. Achilles' stature is indicated by his height in relation to the fountain house and by the scale of his weapons. The raven foretells Troilos's imminent death. The youth appears lithe and lanky. His two noble horses will not save him from his fate.

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