Terracotta amphora (jar)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, satyr with pelta (crescent-shaped shield) and thyrsos (fennel stalk with ivy) Reverse, satyr with pelta and wineskin Though unidentified, the artist here displays his skill by rendering the satyr from the front and from the back. The depiction of active movement and complex poses was made possible by the fluid line attainable with the red-figure technique.

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