Terracotta amphora (jar)

Lydos

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse and reverse, horseman Lydos favored placing one or two horsemen in a panel on the dark, imposing shape of an amphora. This conceit, a refinement of the earlier horse-head amphorae, was adopted by artists associated with him. The graffito on the lip (HI) is not a friendly American greeting. It may possibly be the beginning of a dedication or it may have some commercial significance, the usual function of such inscriptions.

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