Terracotta neck-amphora of Panathenaic shape (jar)

Princeton Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, Athena at altar, flautist, and woman Reverse, seated man between 2 men and 2 women This vase is of considerable importance, for although it is not an official prize amphora, the decoration on the obverse refers to numerous aspects of the Panathenaic festival. The image of Athena in the center is that of Athena Polias, the goddess of the Akropolis who invariably occupies the obverse of the Panathenaic prize vases. In front of her is a burning altar, and behind it a flute-player. The Panathenaic games included not only athletic but also musical competitions, to which this figure most probably refers. The woman on the right carries on her head a stiff horizontal object that seems to represent the peplos, the garment for Athena's image that was renewed every four years. It is about to be unfolded and draped on the statue. The subject on the reverse is difficult to elucidate. The seated man is characterized as a god or king by his scepter. If he bears some relation to the depiction on the reverse, he may be Zeus awaiting the birth—from his head—of Athena.

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