Terracotta statuette of a seated youth

Terracotta statuette of a seated youth

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This figurine belongs to a large group of similarly wreathed youths who stand or sit and hold theater masks. Here, the mask and festive dress clearly indicate the figure's participation in a festival of Dionysos.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta statuette of a seated youthTerracotta statuette of a seated youthTerracotta statuette of a seated youthTerracotta statuette of a seated youthTerracotta statuette of a seated youth

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.